Convalescence
by FletcherTheNearlyMan
Summary: With Adam and Cinder defeated and Team RWBY having graduated from beacon, professor Ozpin orders that the girls take a year out of fighting, to reflect on and recover from the sacrifices that have changed them all. Mainly Bumbleby, background white rose.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction, and I will try and update it weekly. Reviews and Favs/Follows are always welcome, and if you spot any mistakes or wanna talk, feel free to shoot me a message. Special thanks to Niko for beta reading and helping me spot any errors and stuff. Nikos tumblr: queerassholeunderthemisletoe .com My tumblr: will-you-bumbleby-mine .com**

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_Yangs breathing was laboured, and she could hear from her side that her raven-haired partner Blake was faring no better on the exhaustion front. The blonde brawler had been fighting waves of White Fang soldiers for what felt like hours with Blake. She knew that they had to keep the force distracted whilst Weiss was retrieving Ruby from the large concrete bunker they stood in front of, where the red-themed girl was being held. Blake rushed forward to fight the last few White Fang goons that stood in a semi circle around the bunkers entrance and then Yang saw Adam stood behind where his henchmen had been a moment ago. "Found you." she muttered to herself through gritted teeth. Adam had retreated briefly and the pair of huntresses had lost visuals on the Faunus man for a short time. The brawler was glad to have him back in her sights, knowing just how deadly the faunus mans sword was. Yang knew that the new improved version of Blush that sat on Adams hip was dangerous, and not just because of its lethally talented owner, but because of how Cinder had developed the technology to make it leech off of Adams opponents auras, draining them and, in turn, strengthening the blows it could deal out itself._

_Yang knew that if they were to win, she needed to remove Adam and his damned weapon from the fight. She could see that Blake was struggling now to keep fighting the Fangs goons, her shadow clones were becoming more and more permeable, and some started to flicker away the very moment Blake summoned them. Yang briefly checked her scroll out of her periphery, whilst keeping one eye on Adams masked smirking face. Blake's aura was in the red, as low as the captured Ruby's. Weiss was fine, which made Yang breathe a small sigh of relief, glad that she had obviously not been stopped in her battle to save Ruby. Yangs own aura was down, not so far as Blake's, but still not at a comfortable level for ending a fight with a master swordsman and his demon of a weapon. The huntress had been saving the full use of her semblance, hoping to not need to burn herself out but now fearing that she had no choice. If she didn't kill Adam soon, Team RWBY may lose a few letters._

_Yang cocked her gauntlets and took up position, fists up, right foot forward, wide set stance. She stared at the red slits in Adams mask, unable to make actual eye contact. The faunus in question simply drew his sword and beckoned for her to come forward, a confident smile tugging at his lips. Yang sprung forward, pointing her fists behind her briefly to use her gauntlets recoil to push her faster, before bringing one fist back to guard, and pulling the other one back for a hard blow. She put as much strength into this punch as she could, desperate for a killing blow, desperate to save her team. A few feet before Yang would hit Adam, she saw his smile widen and he lifted his hand, which looked to hold a small black box. In that instant, Ruby appeared in front of Adam, bloodied and bruised, with one eye scorched out by the nefarious Cinder Fall's incessant torture. The sudden image startled Yang so violently that she lost her concentration, and she could only watch as Adams sword and then, more freakishly, his whole arm moved through Ruby to bat aside Yangs blow. By the time she realised that her sisters image was only a detailed illusion, a hologram, it was too late, with her forward momentum too strong to stop, and Adams dirty trick along with the redirection of her blow, she found her fist going right around and to her side, the side where she knew Blake was stood, finishing off the last White Fang soldier in the clearing in front of the bunker. Time slowed torturously for Yang, and she watched as Blake pulled her weapon, Gambol Shroud, from the chest of the final henchman and began to turn to Yang. Blake had nanoseconds to register the danger she was in and it was clear she had no time to evade. Blake had faster reactions than anybody else Yang knew, but not even she could lift her blade fully to try and block the brawlers supersonic punch. Yang registered the shock in Blake's eyes, which she was sure was mirrored in her own red irises, as Ember Celica connected with the cat faunus's wrist, and passed on all the force of the explosive round, and Yangs aura, that the blond had meant for Adam. _

_The crunch of Blake's bones was sickening. After fighting for so long, what little aura the faunus girl had had left was shattered by her partners punch. The shock wave travelled up and down her arm, tearing apart the bones in her hand, and completely mangling her forearm. As time resumed its normal pace, Yang saw Blake fly back from the hit, and land on the other side of the dead soldiers she had just defeated, near the edge of the clearing. Yang roared in anger and sadness as her momentum pulled her around to face Adam again. The masked mans smile was twisted and mocking, and when Yang shot out her hands to grab his sword, she saw his face switch to confusion so quickly it would have almost been comical, if it wasn't for the circumstances. Now no thoughts entered Yangs mind as her semblance hit new, unchartered heights, completely eradicating any emotion but rage as her body burned white hot. If she had been aware of what was going on, she would have felt it as her own fire became hot enough to burn two long streaks down her back, that reached out from either side of her spine near her shoulder blades. Adam was startled to say the least, his constant mockingly calm façade having fallen entirely, as he watched Yang grip the blade, even as it cut deep into her fingers, staining the steel with crimson. He looked from his sword, up to Yangs eyes, and found that they had turned such a deep red that they were almost black, and he was reminded of the colour of bad blood in an old wound. Yangs voice was almost not her own when she spoke, it rumbled through Adams body like the roar of an angry dragon. "Your weapons power may be based off of my semblance," Yang growled, referencing her ability to absorb and use the power of peoples hits against them "but it will never be strong enough to beat me." As she finished her sentence, Adam saw the white fire that surrounded Yang being directed into the metal of Blush as it tried to leech her aura, and he started to smile at her foolishness in gripping the blade before he saw cracks appearing in the sword, going out from Yangs hands as she completely overloaded it with her fiery aura. After a moment of this, Blush shattered, in a loud explosion that shot shards of steel at both Adam and Yang. The pieces that came near Yang disintegrated on contact with her fire, but the aura charged shards that hit Adam pierced straight through his body with horrifying speed. Adam lifted a hand to his stomach, where he felt one of the new holes in his body begin to leak blood. Yang, or rather the burning demon who stood as Yang, saw Adam distracted by his injuries, and did not hesitate to cock back her fist, and slam it, will all her fire, and her explosive rounds, into Adams face. Yangs blood spattered skin began to cool as her semblance dissipated almost immediately, and she spared no glance at Adam on the ground before running over to Blake's prone body. She knew he wouldn't be getting up ever again, as sure as she knew that she had mere moments before she blacked out from the overuse of her semblance._

_Yang knelt beside Blake's body, assessing the damage as best she could in her exhausted state. Splinters of bone had torn apart tendon and muscle alike and Blake's usually alabaster skin was sticky and red with blood, blood that Yang realised was flowing far too fast. Yangs punch had caused the shards of bone to tear through the main arteries in Blake's arm, and the faunus was fading fast. Yang began calling for her, crying out for her. "Stay, stay please" Her forlorn pleadings were like the whines of a wounded animal "I'll do anything, just please, don't go, Blake don't leave me." Yangs vision began fading, and even as her heart screamed at her to stay awake, stay with her partner, the fog of her exhausted soul rolled over her. And as she fell next to the body of her severely wounded friend, the last thing she saw was a blurred streak of white._

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"Yang!" The blondes eyes snapped open as she felt someone shake her and she shot into a sitting position, breathing erratically, trying desperately to calm down as she grasped at her sheets in the dark. She hadn't even noticed who had called her name until she noticed the soft reassuring touch of her partner on her arm. Slowly, Yang looked over at Blake, seeing in the slither of moonlight coming through the curtains that she had climbed silently onto the brawlers bed to comfort her. "Yang it's alright, you need to take a few deep breaths." Blake told her, as she ran her thumb comfortingly over the warm, soft skin of Yangs forearm, her own cold fingers briefly causing yang to start. After a few moments of concentration, Yang had managed to return her breathing to something vaguely resembling a normal speed and she gave a sad smile of thanks to Blake, not looking at the warm, almost luminescent eyes of her partner in the dark, only at the covers of her bunk. Blake, as expected, noticed the lack of eye contact and merely sighed, moving her hand so she could gently hold Yangs. Blake did not like to see her friend so upset, especially when she knew that Yang was beating herself up over something that Blake did not blame her for.

"Yang," the girl in question finally looked Blake in the eye, lilac meeting amber "would you like me to get you a spare pillowcase?" Blake's question was quiet, knowing that it was still the early hours of the morning, and that even though Ruby and Weiss had spent the night away together at some uptight social event (how Ruby put up with them was beyond Blake), the dorm walls were annoyingly thin, and no one wished to invoke the wrath of an untimely awoken Nora. Not after last time."What?" Blakes night vision allowed her to see Yangs eyebrows crinkled in befuddlement as she spoke the word. Blake simply pointed at the head of Yangs bed, gesturing for Yang to look, forgetting that the brawler might not be able to see her actions. Yang reached behind to grab the pillow to look at but was surprised when she did not feel the soft down she expected, and when she picked it up and held it so the soft moonlight hit it she saw that it was now probably about seventy percent scorch marks and ash. "Woah," Yang muttered sheepishly before turning back to Blake's watchful gaze "so uh I guess you won't believe me if I tell you I slept fine?" Blake's eyes narrowed slightly and she huffed quietly, ignoring Yangs attempt to lighten the mood. "You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened." Blake's voice was calm and quiet as she spoke to Yang who simply looked away, again refusing to meet Blake's expectant gaze, suddenly finding her duvet very interesting. "How did you know?" Yangs voice was so soft and unhappy that Blake's gaze immediately softened, her heart clenching as she gave her partners hand another reassuring squeeze. She knew how Yang hated to be seen when she felt weak, she knew how this kindhearted, self sacrificing girl would feel like she was letting Blake down by being upset. Thinking about these things made Blake decide not to tell Yang that she'd heard the blonde quietly but fervently calling her name during her nightmare, instead choosing a safer option, less likely to make Yang feel even weaker. "We all have dreams about that day." She explained softly, not exactly lying. Yang simply nodded, too tired from her nightmare to sense anything off about Blake's answer. The raven haired girl suddenly jumped down from Yangs bunk, surprising the blonde, who was still occasionally startled by Blake's silent movement, even after four years. The blonde had to admit she was a little impressed that Blakes stealth had not been affected by the loss of her arm, but before she could let that thought snowball into something painful, she decided to stop thinking about the lost appendage. Yang only had to distract herself for a moment before Blake appeared to materialise in the darkness in front of Yang, holding a pillow out towards her with her one good arm. "Here, have mine," Blake whispered "I can sleep with just one." Yang reached out and gratefully took the pillow, throwing the scorched one onto the floor below the beds, and put on top of her other, untouched, bottom pillow. "Thanks Blake." Yang smiled at where she saw the dark shadow that was Blake, knowing that the cat Faunus would see the smile just fine, even with such a small amount of light.

Blake was about to quietly get back into her bunk, more than ready to try and stave off the unseasonably chilly night with plenty of blankets, when Yang grabbed her hand. "Wait!" Yang said softly, "You're cold." Blake could see Yang look at where she held the girls hand, before she felt the blonde gently pull Blake towards her. "Stay with me please? I can keep you warm, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep again if I'm alone tonight." Yangs pleading was so heartbroken that Blake felt empathy cut her deep like a knife, and she only took a split second to crawl into the small bed beside Yang and curl up on her side. The warmth of her partners aura immediately penetrated deep into Blakes cold bones, and the Faunus had to suppress a small purr escaping her chest. Yang settled next to her, facing her, still not letting go of Blake's hand as the dark haired girl slowly let her body relax. She saw Yangs lilac eyes drift closed after a few minutes and not long after that, the soft sleepy breathing coming from her partner lulled the faunus off to sleep as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys, due to how excited I am about writing this and how I will have plenty of free time over the holidays, I am going to update this story every 4 days at the least. Thank you for follows &amp; Favs, and feel free to leave a review, it would mean a lot.**

**Once again thank you to my friend Niko for his help spotting errors and for support.**

**I hope you enjoy this rather domestic chapter of Convalescence.**

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Blake was not one to wake up slowly and procrastinate the morning away, unlike her blonde partner, and awoke at 8:00 on the dot, as usual, unassisted by an alarm. Blake had mastered the use of her internal clock during her time on operations with the White fang, when any noise could have meant discovery or even death. The faunus felt no disorientation at waking in a bed that was not her own, but the sight of the usually fierce woman hanging onto Blake like a sleeping child had caused Blake to pause for a moment, warmth filling her heart as she looked at Yang's smooth, relaxed features. Blake was surprised that Yang looked so different to her in that moment before she realised with a sigh that Yang hadn't relaxed in months. These days even when she was smiling there was a tightness around her eyes, everything seemed more strained and whereas Yang's neutral expression used to be a playful smile, sweet and friendly, now she slipped into a slight frown without even realising. Blake lifted her hand and felt her heart beat a little faster as she hesitantly brushed a strand of beautiful golden hair from where it had fallen over her partners sleeping face. Blake lingered a little longer than she had to, enjoying tracing the soft skin of Yang's cheekbone before breaking herself out of her daydream with a shake of her head and quietly slid out of the bunk after gently unbending Yang's fingers from where she had clung onto Blake's yukata in the night. Blake walked over to the curtains, where a small slither of sunlight was shining through into the dark room, and opened them wide. The dark haired girls right ear twitched a little as it registered the sleepy groan that came from Yang as the light streamed through the window. Blake smiled slightly at the sound, just the slightest lifting of the corner of her mouth as she turned and looked at where her partner was sprawled out on half of the bunk they had shared, long golden locks flowing out around her head in a halo. Blake watched as Yang's arm flopped onto the side of the bed where the faunus had been sleeping and was slightly surprised as the blonde grabbed a handful of the sheet as her eyes snapped open, suddenly fully awake.

"Blake!" Yang shouted, her voice hoarse from the nights misuse, her lilac eyes searching wildly until she saw Blake standing near the window with wide eyes.

As soon as Yang saw her, her stiff body relaxed and she hopped out of bed, in a very uncharacteristic show of early morning, pre-coffee energy. Yang opened her mouth to say something as she stood in her shorts and sleeveless T-shirt, before deciding against it and quietly shaking her head, and turning away from Blake to get her clothes out of the wardrobe.

If Yang hadn't turned away she would have seen the concern that was now etched into Blake's usually calm features. Blake had had four years to work on her communication skills with her team and now knew that this was the time she needed to utilise them to try and find out what was going on with Yang, and learn how to make her feel better.

"Yang."

The blonde did not turn, and simply hummed to show she was listening.

Blake sighed and walked over to where yang was pulling on her usual brown denim short shorts, still preferring them to anything else even after all this time. Blake knew that after so long in one room with the girl that they were past being embarrassed by getting changed in close proximity, so when she hesitated in putting her hand on Yang's shoulder, it was not because the sight of Yang's warm, strong yet soft body was distracting her, but because she was worried about startling Yang. Blake convinced herself of this as she gently made contact with Yang's half covered left shoulder. Yang paused in her changing to turn to Blake, shaking off her hand subtly. Yang pulled off her sleeveless shirt and smirked playfully as she stood, completely topless for a moment before putting her bra on. Blake was sure that Yang was doing this on purpose, using distraction tactics to keep Blake away from asking what was wrong. Blake concentrated very hard on keeping her gaze on Yang's face, and was rather proud when she managed to, albeit a little breathily, ask a question.

"Why did you seem so scared this morning? When you said my name." Again, Blake added mentally.

Yang just shrugged before quickly pulling on the white low cut top she had picked up.

"I wasn't _scared_, just didn't know where you were." she answered evasively, her back again facing Blake as she grabbed her reinforced short sleeved brown leather jacket. "I'm gonna go get us some coffee. You get dressed, I'll help you put your arm on in a minute when I get back." the blonde muttered before swiftly making her way out of the dorm, grabbing her old yellow scarf that she wore in all weather off the door handle as she left the room in her bare feet, shutting the door before Blake could interrogate her further.

The dark haired girl huffed in quiet frustration before going to the wardrobe to retrieve her usual clothing and get dressed quickly, leaving off her long black leather coat for later. As Blake pulled on her tights she idly wondered if Yang would remember how she liked her coffee, seeing as how Blake was almost always up and already drinking her morning coffee before Yang had even started to come around from her heavy sleep. Blake couldn't remember the last time Yang was the one to make the coffee, not that she minded. The quiet girl found a small pleasure in watching the blonde perk up almost as soon as the smell of a cup of liquid energy was held near her by Blake almost every morning.

Blake went back to the window with silent steps and gracefully folded herself onto the sill so she had her feet up and her knees close to her chest.

Blake zoned out for a minute or two, feeling the morning sun beat down gently on her alabaster skin, waiting for her partner to come back. When the blonde knocked at the door needing to be let in, the faunus found that her left hand had wondered to the stump of her right elbow, and that she was absentmindedly running her fingers over the still pink scar tissue. Only sparing herself a split second of sadness, Blake quickly got up and let Yang in, and the girl in question carefully handed Blake the disposable cup of coffee and gave her a small smile, which Blake returned in kind after taking a sip and noticing Yang had got her order perfectly right: milky with two sugars.

Yang sat carefully on Blake's bunk, easing herself down as to not spill any hot liquid. Blake quietly sat beside her, her shoulder brushing against Yang's as the blonde lifted the cup of almost unbearably sweet black coffee to her lips.

They drank in quiet peace, the only sounds the occasional sigh, the rustle of material from the girls slight movements, or a dull thud penetrating the dorm walls from another room.

They both knew they were stalling for time.

In under an hour now, Ruby and Weiss would be back to dismantle their death trap of a bunk-bed, just as Yang and Blake would have to for their side, before packing up every scrap of evidence of their four year long stay in Beacon.

Blake thought that if an outsider were to see them sat quietly together on the bed drinking coffee with sombre faces that the impression they would give would be that of two people who had received bad news that morning and they certainly would not have guessed that in a few hours that the two of them would be graduating from one of the four top fighting academies in all of Remnant.

Yang's quiet huff broke Blake from her reverie as she stood, put her now empty cup on the side and reached under Blake's bed, fumbling for a second before pulling out a long, plain black box about two feet long and half a foot wide. Yang moved to sit on the other side of Blake than she had before, placing the box in between them. It was only once Yang had opened the two metal latches on the side of the box that she looked at Blake again, a question in her lilac eyes, and a soft expression on her face. Blake knew what was coming and put her now empty mug behind her on the bed before taking a deep breath.

Turning her torso slightly to face her partner and looking into Yang's eyes briefly, Blake nodded, just a slight dip of her head to let Yang know that they were okay to continue.

Yang gently lifted the lid of the box to reveal Blake's prosthesis, all sharp lines, matte black, and dust infused aluminium. It was a slightly older model, but it was all Blake could afford, as she had refused to allow Weiss to buy her a ridiculously expensive, top of the line, not yet on the market prototype. She wanted to make her own way as much as she could in life, and anyway, the faunus hated being indebted to anyone. Not that she didn't trust the Schnee Heiress, it's just old habits die hard.

Yang lifted the prosthesis out of the soft lining it sat in and hesitantly lifted it up to Blake's right elbow, being as gentle as possible when she pulled the sleeve of the arm up to Blake's shoulder with one hand whilst holding the metal part with the other, so as to not let it move out of place. As a huntress Blake knew that she would need to fight and move as normal without having to worry about her new "arm" falling off, so when she bought it, she had made sure to buy a heavy duty sort of harness that would hold it in place even during conflict.

The prosthesis itself was solid posable parts up to Blake's elbow, where Blake had to slip her arm into a heavy duty black fabric sleeve at the top of the metal that reached up to her shoulder. The harness was made of black leather straps about an inch wide that ran up from the metal, winding round the fabric sleeve and running across to her other shoulder on her front and back.

"Hold it there, I'm gonna do up the straps." Yang told Blake, her eyes concentrating only on the crisscross of leather and the doing of buckles.

Blake did as she was instructed whilst Yang worked quickly but calmly around her. The dark haired girl watched the dexterous movement of Yang fingers and once again found herself thinking she had been foolish to assume that Yang couldn't be gentle or precise at the start of their time together. Blake was also impressed with how unfazed Yang was whilst doing this, after only having had to every morning for two months, how she didn't let her obvious feelings of guilt upset her whilst she knew there was something she could be doing to help Blake.

Yang was surprised but glad to catch Blake's small smile when she looked up, finished with the straps. Yang knew that this was hard on the faunus, feeling so useless, needing someone to help her do this every morning. The dark haired girl didn't know that Yang admired her every day for the things she did, for how she had mastered the art of dressing herself with one hand almost immediately, hell, Yang was impressed by the fact that Blake had not spent a single day moping since the day she had woken up to find herself without her entire lower dominant arm. She had simply rested until she was free to leave the hospital and gone straight to buy herself her prosthesis with some money she'd saved and then straight back to beacon to start learning how to use it to fight.

Yang's cheeks grew warm when she realised that they had been locked in each other's gaze for a heartbeat longer than the situation required and she looked away, causing Blake to come to the same realisation, and the blonde couldn't help but chuckle lightly when she saw that her own blush was being returned in kind.

Before the peaceful moment could be shatter by either of them, the door burst open and Ruby Rose took that pleasure for herself, with Weiss rolling her eyes as she stepped in after the energetic 19 year old.

As Blake observed the members of her team, she took note of how much had changed in the last four years, and how much more had changed in the two months since they rescued Ruby from Adam and Cinder.

Ruby was taller, much to Weiss's almost constant annoyance, and had grown into a strong and striking looking young woman, having let her hair grow out a few inches longer and having lost the puppy fat around her face, leaving only a soft but strong jawline. The girl had changed her look a while ago, deciding to graduate from her combat skirt to reinforced red Kevlar jeans and a white shirt with a black subtly armoured waistcoat that Blake herself had actually suggested for the younger girl.

By far though, what had changed the most about the young leader were her eyes.

During the time that Ruby was held by Cinder in the White Fangs headquarters, she had undergone extreme torture at the sadistic woman's hands, trying to get the girl to break and tell her all about the inner workings of Beacon so she could plan a surprise attack.

Weiss had confessed to Blake in a moment of quiet weakness, not long after the youngest member of the team had come out of hospital, that Ruby was covered in fresh scars, mostly burn marks, and that she hardly held Weiss anymore, scared that she'd be repulsed by the things Cinder had done to her.

Ruby hated what had happened, she hated that Cinder had taken one of her silver eyes from her, the ones that Weiss told her she loved the colour of so much. The girl would not go into any detail about the torture to anyone, clamming up as soon as the subject was raised, so all anyone knew was that Cinder had burnt out Ruby's left eye, and now in its place sat a new one, made of all sorts of space age materials that Blake could not hope to name or pronounce.

Weiss had spared no expense in getting Ruby a new eye, and had come up with something actually rather amazing.

In Ruby's eye socket sat a pure black ball, which used nanotechnology to show Ruby things that no human could see, such as heat signatures, or how she would need to adjust her shot to account for wind direction and distance when taking out an enemy.

"GOOD MORNING TEAM RWBY!" The red themed girl yelled, blowing on her trademark morning whistle, the same as she had nearly every morning for the past four years. Blake was broken sharply out of her reverie by this piercing sound and her eyes snapped up first to Ruby and then to Yang. Blake was quick to realise what was happening and she shared a look with Yang as they both thought that even though the whistle and Ruby's enthusiastic greeting had gotten a little grating at points over the years, that this was the last time this would happen in this room, with the four of them students of Beacon Academy.

Nearer the doorway of the room, Weiss had also come to this realisation and she knew that as she saw the smile on her girlfriend's face slip a fraction for a split second before she fixed it that Ruby had also understood the significance of that moment.

Yang was not as observant as Weiss, but she knew her younger sister like the back of her hand, and knew exactly how Ruby would be feeling right now.

"Right then team leader, what are the orders for today?" Yang asked in a serious business voice whilst snapping into a mock salute with a silly grin on her face.

The effort to cheer up the youngest member of team RWBY worked like a charm as she saluted back at Yang. Ruby laughed and Yang saw how much her baby sister had grown up when she saw the girl's expression grow soft and nostalgic.

"Today Weiss, Blake, Yang and their fearless leader Ruby face their most intrepid adventure yet. Graduation!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! **

**Thank you for the follows and favourites, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.**

**again, thank you to my beta for his help.**

**Anyway, here's chapter 3 of Convalescence.**

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The applause was thunderous as each member of team JNPR started to walk off the stage, but even over the noise, it didn't take ears as sensitive as Blake's in order to hear Nora squeal happily as she skipped offstage. Ren chuckled as he followed behind her at a more sedate pace, whilst Jaune stood with Pyrrha, the two of them holding hands, absorbing the moment before waving to the crowd of students and civilians and leaving the stage.

Ruby, who was stood closest to the platform, was happy to see the once awkward and underachieving leader of JNPR walk off with his head held high, quite rightly proud of his ability to lead the second best graduating team at beacon.

Ruby was broken out of her reverie as she saw Ozpin raise his hand for silence, causing the applause to fade.

"And finally," the huntsman began, "It is with great pride I present to you the top team in this year's graduating class."

Ruby felt her cheeks go pink as Weiss nudged her lightly with her elbow, sending a small smile her way.

"These four girls have done more in their years as students for the kingdom than most people will do in their entire lifetime, and they have sacrificed more than many will ever know." Ozpin's voice grew briefly sombre and Weiss's smile faltered as she thought of just how much hardship her team-mates endured. She forced herself to shake off the thought, knowing that now was not the time for grief, but for celebration. "For their outstanding services to beacon and Vale, for their graduation as fully fledged huntresses, and for their courage in all things I present to them all something only one other team has ever received, the Flower of Beacon." Blake heard the collective intake of breath from her team as Ozpin picked up a small red box, one of four that were laid out on a table behind him.

Ozpin smiled as he continued his address "I hope they will wear this esteemed honour with pride throughout the rest of their careers."

Ozpin went into a brief description of the medals history, telling the crowd of how the medal was created when Ruby's mother saved a large town on the outskirts of Vale, defending it from an almost never ending sea of Grimm long enough for the citizens and her injured team-mates to get away.

When only three hunters recovered returned to beacon to recover from their injuries, Ozpin created the honour and the team were each awarded the medallion for their bravery. Blake saw a single tear spill from Ruby's eye, and she felt a surge of need to comfort the girl, but she saw Weiss put her hand on the young woman's shoulder reassuringly. They all knew why Ruby was upset.

Summer Rose was also awarded the medallion for going above and beyond the call of duty; however hers was embedded in the cold marble of her gravestone.

Whilst Ozpin was speaking, Blake felt Yang's soft, warm hand slip into her own and gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze before dropping it and taking a deep breath. Blake was once again surprised by the blondes caring nature, how she knew that Blake was worried about the noise and the eyes of hundreds on her and took a moment to comfort the faunus, even though she herself was also terribly nervous. The dark haired girl pulled her gaze from her partner long enough to see Weiss place a chaste but loving kiss on Ruby's lips and a show a small pride filled smile, which the young leader returned in kind, evidently having taken a moment to collect herself whilst Blake was distracted by Yang. The brawler in question smiled at the heiress's display of affection, not even considering stopping it as she might have done at the beginning of the red and white relationship due to a misplaced sense of protectiveness over her younger sister. She had lost all feelings of animosity towards Weiss long ago, and the feelings of warmth she now felt towards her sisters three year relationship with the ice queen were compounded by the knowledge that Weiss had walked through hell for Ruby.

Yang shook herself from her reverie as she saw Ruby began to climb the three steps to the stage, having been told it was their time.

The pride in Ozpin's voice was unmistakable as he spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, students of beacon, I give you, team RWBY."

If the applause for JNPR was thunderous, then Blake knew that the noise the crowd made now could have woken the dead.

They walked on in order, the sound of cheers roaring through the great hall of Beacon.

They stood next to Ozpin, facing the large, raucous crowd as the professor gently lifted the first medal from its velvet casing, moving down the line of girls until he stood in front of Yang. The applause died away almost instantly as people's attentions were glued to the colourful team.

"Ah, Miss Xiao-Long," Ozpin said with a small smile, which Yang returned broadly "although you are not the most studious pupil I have ever seen, your prowess in battle and unwavering loyalty is undoubtedly impressive. Miss Belladonna could not wish for anyone better to have her back, and I'm sure Miss Rose and Miss Schnee agree."

Yang blushed lightly and stammered out a thank you, causing Blake to smile.

Placing the medal on Yang's lapel, Ozpin spoke once more, tone serious, standing on ceremony.

"For your courage against a seemingly unbeatable foe, I present to you Yang Xiao-Long, the Flower of Beacon. Congratulations."

Yang beamed and let out a short chuckle as she heard her father Taiyang, another recipient of the Rose, let out a loud cheer. Ozpin returned to the table to pick up the next medal before moving in front of Blake.

"Miss Belladonna." He greeted her.

"Professor." The faunus replied cordially, although one ear twitched with nervousness.

"Your skills as a huntress are remarkable, and your intelligence and agility are almost unparalleled."

Ozpin paused briefly, saying the next part only loud enough for the four girls to hear.

"Even though you came from a troubled past, and housed a troubled soul, you have time and again proven that you are one of the most fair and good hearted people in this world. I'm proud of you Blake."

Ozpin raised his voice for the crowd again as tears threatened at the corners of Blake's eyes at the professor's kind praise.

"For your unfailing determination and your sacrifice, I present to you, Blake Belladonna, the Flower of Beacon."

The gold Rose sat over her quickly beating heart and Blake smiled widely, finally proud of herself after all these years of carrying her guilt around like a sack of bricks.

Blake saw Sun and Neptune in the back of the crowd waving madly as Ozpin presented Weiss with her medal whilst commenting on her hard work and constant perseverance.

The entire team turned their heads to look at Ruby as she received her medal from Ozpin. The Red themed woman held her head high, looking straight ahead, almost at attention as the headmaster pinned the medal over her heart. Blake, Yang and Weiss watched with bated breath as Ozpin spoke.

"Miss Rose."

Ruby stood even straighter, and Blake noticed her hands ball into fists as the girl tried to hold back all the emotions that were inevitably coursing through her at that moment.

"You are the most naturally gifted huntress I have seen in years, you are a born leader, a born fighter, and your compassion for friends, team-mates and even strangers knows no bounds. No matter where your life takes you once you have left these halls, you and your team will always be welcome here. It was an honour having you at my school, Ruby Rose."

Ozpin extended his hand towards Ruby, taking an almost imperceptible step closer to her as he did. Ruby took the proffered hand and they shook, in a gesture that Blake recognised as the professor acknowledging Ruby as his equal.

Blake heard what Ozpin said next, yet tried her best not to react as she realised that his words were meant for Ruby alone.

"Your mother would be so proud, Ruby." Ozpin's voice was soft and heartfelt as he said this, before stepping back and releasing the leader's hand.

Ruby smiled sadly at him before turned and once again addressed the crowd, presenting the members of team RWBY for the final time. There was one last proud cheer from the assembled people as the four girls turned and exited the same way JNPR had. Yang and Weiss spotted Velvet on the way out and they struck up a conversation with the quiet rabbit faunus. They passed through a small entrance in the back of the hall that took them outside to Beacons grounds.

As the other two team-mates make their way out at a more sedate pace, side by side, Blake noticed that the tears Ruby had been holding back moments before had started to fall. Blake watched her for a few moments, unsure on how to comfort Ruby over something so intensely personal. Out of her periphery the raven haired girl saw Ruby put her hand on the medallion over her heart and close her eyes, standing still for a moment. Blake stopped a few feet ahead of her leader and turned to observe Ruby's lips move as if in silent prayer before the girl wiped her eyes hurriedly and bounded over to where Weiss and Yang were talking excitedly to Team CFVY who had taken a short period of leave from clearing small pockets of grimm so they could attend the ceremony.

It was only later when the teams went to meet with their families and Blake saw Taiyang holding his daughters that she figured out what Ruby had been mouthing. The realisation tinged the memory with such intense emotion that Blake felt as if the wind had been briefly knocked out of her lungs, and she immediately chastised herself for unknowingly intruding on such a deeply personal moment.

Blake's feelings of guilt could not stop her overactive brain from replaying the moment in her head as she watched Taiyang take pictures of the sisters holding up their medals with proud grins.

This time, however, Blake couldn't help but know the five words Ruby had silently spoken.

This is for you, mom.

Time jump to the evening

Although not lacking in grandeur, the ceremony was mercifully short.

Team JNPR had grabbed RWBY after everyone's families left and had invited the girls to an after party in the city, in an elegantly decorated hotel in which Ozpin had generously reserved the ballroom for the occasion.

It was dark by now, and the party had been in full swing for hours, with various hilarious occurrences which include but were not limited to a slightly drunken Jaune falling over whilst dancing with Pyrrha and ripping a hole in the crotch of his new dress trousers and an extremely drunken Nora picking Ren up and throwing him up high in the air before trying to catch him, proclaiming she was "juggling her boyfriend", much to the exasperation of the sober boy.

The girls of team RWBY had elected to not drink tonight, as they all knew they'd want to be able to remember tonight when they woke up tomorrow. Even Yang had grudgingly approved, although had gotten the others to agree she was allowed one Strawberry Sunrise, which she had naturally pushed to two.

Blake had pulled Ruby aside at some point early in the night and told her what she had seen at the ceremony.

"Ruby I wanted to tell you I'm sorry that I intruded on that moment, I-"

"Blake." Ruby interrupted. Blake paused and watched the young leader as Ruby first smiled at her, and then surprisingly pulled her into a large hug which after a startled second Blake reciprocated gently.

"It's okay, you know," Ruby began as she pulled out of the hug and met Blake's gaze, Black and silver unwavering as they looked into gold "I know your parents are gone too, so I know you understand what I'm about to tell you."

Ruby took Blake's hands in her own and looked down at them.

"You don't need to worry about seeing what you saw. Since mom died, I have felt lonely a lot, even though Yang always tried her hardest to keep me happy. I lost part of my family, but now I have an even bigger family!" Ruby looked up again, a large smile on her soft features.

"You're a part of that family, Blake. Families share things, which is why we want to know when you're upset, and I'm not mad that you saw me talk to mom."

Blake felt tears start to well up and she pulled Ruby in for another hug, remembering how she used to have to bend her knees slightly to hold the younger girl, and how different it was now that Ruby was an inch taller than her.

"I'm so glad you let me be a part of your family, Ruby." Blake softly murmured into the girls shoulder as she felt a tear escape.

At this point the girls heard a noise beside them and saw Weiss stood, hands on hips, trying to hold her expression of mock anger, even though Blake could see the corner of her mouth twitching.

"I hope you're not trying to steal my girlfriend, Blake." She accused, trying to keep her voice serious before giving in and breaking into a grin.

Blake returned the smile in kind, stepping away from Ruby.

"Damn. Blake it looks like we've been busted!" Ruby cried out dramatically.

Weiss and Blake laughed lightly before Blake shoved the red themed girl towards Weiss.

"Go on you two, I don't think Ruby is the right one for me anyway." Blake stated, keeping her voice as even as she could.

Ruby gasped as Weiss started to pull her away, still laughing.

"Oh Blake, you play so callously with my heart!"

Blake saw Ruby put her hands over her chest in mock sadness before Weiss pulled her onto the dance floor, and Blake smiled before deciding to head up to the roof for some air.

* * *

_**That evening**_

Blake chuckled lightly to herself at the recent memory as she sat on the roof of the hotel, leaning against a steel air vent and enjoying a break from the ruckus she could still hear being enjoyed many floors below her.

Blake's small smile fell away from her as she realised the situation she was now in, which was a subject she had been avoiding ever since the start of their last year. With the girls out of beacon, and as such the dorms, and them having being ordered by Ozpin to take a year out after all they had done and since the Grimm population was at almost an all-time low, she knew that team RWBY may disband, at least until they were returned to active duty twelve months from now. A small part of Blake's mind told her that even then, some teams break apart to pursue their own solo careers as huntsmen and huntresses. After tonight, team RWBY, her family, could fall apart and she would once again be forced to take up the role that haunted her no matter what she seemed to do.

With no home, with no Weiss, Ruby or Yang, she would once again be the stray.

Blake tried to blink away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, but there was so much worry and despair settling its root deep into her heart that the tears began to fall thick and fast. She managed to choke back a sob, determined to not let herself fall completely apart. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her forearms on them, before leaning her head back on the cool vent that stuck out of the building.

In the back of Blake's mind, all she could think was that she was so glad she'd gotten away from everyone before breaking down. She couldn't bear the thought of ruining the party after everyone had worked so hard to get there.

She was up there an hour or so before the cold began to infiltrate her bones, causing her to shiver even through her thick trench coat. Her ears straightened suddenly as she heard a click and the creak of a door followed by a couple of footsteps. She reached for Gambol Shroud and stood silently on guard, waiting for any sign of attack.

The moon was bright that night so when she rounded the vent to face the intruder her night vision was not needed to see that it was only Yang opening the door to the roof who was bathed in the silver glow of the moon. Blake was struck by her beauty in the pale light for a moment before snapping herself out of it.

"Whoa!" Yang gasped as she saw the obviously upset faunus's sword aimed at her "Blake, it's just me, can you, uh, put Gambol away?" The blonde stuttered, caught off guard.

The faunus lowered her blade immediately, her expression softening as she went to tuck it back into the sheathe on her back. She hissed in surprise and displeasure as her black prosthesis seemed to go limp, let her beloved weapon fall to the floor with a clatter that echoed in the still half-light.

"Blake are you okay?" Yang's alarm was evident as she hurried the few steps over to her partner before starting to lean down to retrieve Blake's weapon.

Blake's put up her hand, gesturing for Yang to leave it. Yang obeyed, but the turned down corners of her mouth and the crinkle between her brows spoke her concern.

"I've got it." Blake muttered picking it up with her left arm and putting it in its sheathe.

Blake was not oblivious to Yang's worried expression tried to placate her.

"I just dropped it, Yang, there's no need to look so stricken." She sighed.

Yang knew her feelings were valid, as she couldn't for the life of her remember a time she'd seen Blake drop _anything_, knowing that her partners reflexes were absolutely second to none.

Yang decided to ignore Blake's comment, and instead looked atop her partner's head, where Blake's velvety ears were almost flat against her skull, outlined in the soft moonlight.

"Come on Blake," Yang coaxed "if that's all that happened then what's with the ears."

Blake's eyes opened wider very briefly in confusion before Yang saw the obviously conscious effort she made to try and raise her ears from where they had lain.

The appendages quivered as Blake tried to deny herself her instinct.

Yang's expression softened as she took Blake's hand and walked the few feet to where Blake had been sat a moment ago before pulling on Blake's good arm gently, inviting the dark haired girl to join her with silently pleading lilac eyes.

Blake sighed, weighing up her option for a moment before sitting down, deciding that at the very least she could use her partner's body heat.

They sat in silence for a moment and Blake was hopeful that Yang had decided to drop it.

"Tell me what's wrong?" Blake frowned as the blonde spoke, annoyed to be proven wrong. The faunus opened her mouth to tell Yang that she was fine before Yang's hand went up to place one finger over the startled girls lips, signify that she should listen for a moment.

"Nuh uh," Yang pre-emptively scolded "if the answer you were about to give was "nothing" then I need you to re-evaluate that choice. We spent four years learning to share stuff and you are not allowed to bullshit me now."

Blake cocked an eyebrow at Yang's blunt words, a rebuttal on her tongue before she decided to swallow it and lean her head on the blonde girls shoulder, taking a deep breath.

"You're right, I'm sorry" Blake began in a quiet voice "I'm scared, I'm petrified that this" she gestured vaguely around her, as though they were still in the dorm "is ending now, that team RWBY is ending." Blake's throat became thick and she tried not to cry as she spoke "I'm scared I'm going to lose the only family I know, that you and Ruby and Weiss will return to your homes and I'll be a str- I'll be alone again."

Yang put her arm around Blake's shoulders and squeezed the top of her bicep gently, silently attempting to reassure her stricken friend.

"Well Blake-" Yang began.

"Wait Yang, there's something else." Blake interrupted the blonde, asking for her silence, to which Yang acquiesced.

"This arm..." Blake flexed the black metal fingers experimentally before continuing, "I can't use it well, it uses my aura to power it but it just saps my strength too much, and I'm finding it too hard to control it." Blake's voice was quiet and self-conscious, as though she were admitting to some great personal shortcoming.

"Maybe it's faulty, we could replace it." Yang suggested.

Blake lifted her shining metal arm into the light of the moon and looked it over, also giving Yang a good view of it.

"I know it's not, its brand new. I just... I can't get the hang of this, not since..." Blake trailed off into silence, looking down and dropping the arm back onto her knees.

"What?" Yang asked gently, picking up on Blake's discomfort.

"Every time I feel it using some of my aura up, I'm afraid," Blake looked up at Yang then, the sight of her teary amber orbs pulling at something deep in Yang's chest. "It just makes me feel like I'm at the tip of that sword again. I know it's not the same but I just can't shake this feeling, it's not like how my aura acts and reacts with Gambol Shroud, it's not like it's a part of me, it's like it's a leech."

Blake heard Yang's breath hitch a tad before she tried to cover it, her other arm coming across in front of Blake to pull her closer into her warm embrace.

"Blake, you don't need to worry about being alone ever again." Yang's voice was filled with such strong conviction that Blake felt a small spark of hope in her heart begin to ignite.

"I came up here to tell you that Ruby and Weiss have found a nice house on the outskirts of the city-" Yang began, filled with excitement.

"I couldn't intrude-"

Yang gently placed a finger over Blake's lips, a quiet request for Blake to let her continue.

"_And_ that I have found a small, but pretty sweet flat about fifteen minutes' drive from them," Yang paused for effect "with two bedrooms."

Blake, for all her wit, for all her fiercely sharp intellect, was slow to catch the meaning of Yang's words, but when she did, she felt her heart begin to beat faster in her chest, in anticipation of Yang's coming question.

As always, Yang would not be one to disappoint.

"Would you like to live with me, Blake?" The brawler asked with a small, hopeful yet giddy smile on her face. To say that she was shocked by Blake's reaction would be an understatement. The normally calm and collected girl threw her arms around Yang and buried her face into her neck as she cried tears of relief and happiness.

"Thank you" she whispered between sniffs "oh fates, thank you so much."

Yang felt the soft touch of Blake's lips on her neck and froze for a moment, a blush creeping up from her neck before she laughed and cuddled the unusually physically affectionate faunus.

"As for your arm, I'll sort something out."

Blake looked up at that and a small crinkle formed between her eyebrows

"Yang no, you've already done so much, what with the flat and all, and even this model of prosthesis cost me most of my savings _and_ Ozpin matching the amount. I'll just put up with this one for a while, maybe I'll get used to it eventually." Blake shrugged "And if not, I suppose I could ask Weiss for a loan. She wouldn't mind."

Yang shook her head quickly, causing the Faunus in her arms to raise one perfect brow.

"Don't ask the ice queen, just trust me okay." Yang looked at Blake so intently that any response died in Blake's throat and she simply nodded.

"Okay, I trust you."

Yang smiled, knowing that this was one of the highest praises the raven haired girl could give.

Blake let go of Yang and stood up slowly, with following a second later.

Blake smiled at her affectionately, causing Yang's heart to skip as she momentarily lost herself in her partner's beauty. She shook herself out of the thought, seeing that Blake had caught her staring, and had fixed her with an unreadable look.

"I suppose we should return to the party. I'm sure someone will have noticed us being gone, and you know how people like to talk." Yang said, winking at her partner, shifting Blake's attention from the previous moment and causing Blake to lift her good hand to hide a chuckle.

Blake knew, as she walked towards the door back into the hotel with a still slightly flushed Yang, that she had found the best partner she could have possibly wanted, and the kindest, most caring friend shed ever had. The faunus was hopeful about the days to come and her new living arrangements, and when Yang briefly turned to smile at her in the hotels lift a few minutes later, she wasted no time in smiling back.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, sorry for the slight delay, holidays are crazy, you know?**

**Anyway, expect the next chapter after this to contain more Ruby and Weiss and to be up at some point before New Year or maybe on New Years Day. Depends on how often I'm gonna be getting drunk.**

**As usual my friend Niko gets special thanks for proofreading telling me I don't suck. Thanks for all your follows and favourites.**

**Happy holidays guys, hope y'all enjoy this chapter. Be safe, Be merry.**

* * *

"Yang, you are going to make yourself ill." Weiss's stern admonishment came as the woman in question was pouring the fifth sugar into her impossibly black coffee, causing her to roll her eyes at the heiress.

"Come on princess, I've had my coffee like this for years and look at me," Yang responded jokingly, lifting her tank top to show off her extremely muscular stomach "I'm fit as a butchers dog!"

The white haired woman simply huffed as Blake's hand shot out from Yang's right side, swiftly pulling the brawlers top back down, her cheeks slightly pinker than normal, causing Yang to bark out a laugh. Blake glowered at Yang for a moment before a small involuntary upturning of the corner of her mouth broke through her annoyed façade.

"You are such a pain." Blake's words carried no weight, lifted by her smirk.

Yang chuckled and leaned closer to Blake, putting an arm around her, a large smile on the blondes face. Blake lifted her drink up to her lips, rolling her eyes at her partner's antics.

"You better get used to me Blakey, we are gonna be seeing a_ lot_ of each other from now on." Yang's comment was innocent enough; it was the playfully flirtatious wink that caused Blake to choke on the sip of coffee she had just taken.

Yang patted Blake on the back, laughing all the while until the dark haired girl recovered.

"Head out of the gutter, Blake" The so far quiet Ruby interjected, causing Blake to sputter anew.

"Ruby! Stop taking her side." Blake pleaded as Yang's laughing intensified at her friend's expression of disbelief.

Ruby looked like she was going to continue, a cheeky smile playing at her lips before Weiss placed one delicate hand over the leaders' on the table and shook her head, her face unreadably calm.

"Thank you, Weiss." Blake muttered gratefully before the heiress turned to look her in the eye. The white haired girl shook her head before a small smirk invaded her features.

"It's not our business who you fantasise about, Blake." Weiss delivered the fatal blow as Ruby erupted into giggles next to her and Blake's forehead hit the table with a defeated thud.

Yang was stuck between shock that Weiss had actually been successful with a joke, laughing at Blake's reaction, and being embarrassed at the implication of the heiress's statement. This only caused Ruby to laugh even harder at the dumbfounded expression on her older sister's face.

Weiss daintily lifted one hand out towards her partner, and Ruby quickly reached out to high five her smug girlfriend.

"Nice one, Weiss." Ruby complimented.

Any response Weiss might have formed was interrupted by a groan from Blake.

"You guys suck." The muffled complaint made the other three girls laugh, even Yang, who had snapped out of her moment of brief embarrassment.

Weiss lifted her hand to her mouth daintily as she laughed at her usually eloquent friend before feeling her scroll vibrate demandingly in her pocket.

The girls quieted down quickly, with Blake lifting her head off of the table top, everyone waiting to hear what news the heiress had.

Weiss's eyes quickly skimmed the message from one of her father's men who had been tasked with readying team RWBY's new accommodations.

"Blake, Yang, your belongings are in your flat now." Weiss addressed the Black and Yellow women across from her in the booth, who both nodded, finally serious.

"Ruby, our house is ready; the help has just finished tidying and arranging everything for us." Weiss turned and told the younger woman, whose single silver eye flashed with excitement. The red themed girl abruptly stood, pulling Weiss up by the hand.

"Come on Weiss, I wanna see our new house!" Ruby exclaimed, before disappearing in a cloud of rose petals, causing a few of the customers nearby to widen their eyes in surprise, and Weiss to sigh, one hand coming up to her face so she could pinch the bridge of her nose before she turned to walk away. She paused and looked back at the other half of her team, neither of whom had made a move to leave. Blake was looking at Yang concernedly as the blonde bit her lower lip, in visible anguish.

"Are you alright, Yang?" Weiss asked, eyebrows pulled together slightly, indicating her quiet worry for her friend. Yang just nodded before looking down at the now empty cup that sat in her hands.

"I think we are going to stay for a little while longer," Blake broke the silence, sending what she hoped was a reassuring look to Weiss "We will come see you this evening, as planned."

Weiss looked at the two friends a moment longer before nodding and turning on her heel to leave, the bell above the cafés door signifying her exit a few moments later.

Blake stood up abruptly, startling Yang, causing her head to snap up. The Faunus simply walked around to the other side of the booth where Weiss and Ruby had been sat, so she could face her distressed partner.

Blake's amber eyes locked with Yang's own lilac orbs, Blake searching for something to tell her what was wrong.

"Tell me." Blake coaxes softly, and that's all she has to say before tears threaten Yang's sad gaze.

"I've never not lived with Ruby before, I'm worried about her, what if something happens?" Yang confessed.

Blake's eyebrows rose as she realised Yang's true fear in a moment of clarity.

"You and I both know that her and Weiss are more than capable of looking after themselves," Blake raised one eyebrow sceptically at her partner before continuing "not that that is the real reason you're upset is it? Come on, Yang, if I have to tell you what's wrong when I'm sad then you have to do the same." Blake persuaded.

Yang sighed before leaning back, slouching on the soft café seat as her eyes wandered until she settled on looking out the window onto the street as dozens of citizens of Vale walked past jovially enjoying their Saturdays.

"Yeah, you're right, it's not that." Yang concedes.

"It's because you're worried you're going to miss her more than she'll miss you. That she won't need you anymore, isn't it?" Blake ventured, eyes still locked on her partner, so that when Yang looked back a second later, their gazes collided yet again.

Blake couldn't help but think that considering all the evidence of the things Yang's gaze could do to her that she was probably a fool to keep meeting it so readily like this, knowing that now she was going to have to fight to hold onto her train of thought in the wake of the blonde's intense stare. Blake swallowed reflexively.

"You're too perceptive for your own good." Yang accused, though with such a gently serious tone that Blake was briefly taken aback.

"Maybe you're no good at hiding your emotions." The faunus countered reflexively, causing Yang to pause and look away, her lips moving only a fraction as she mumbled.

"Only when I'm around you."

Blake heard Yang's soft retort, knowing that it was too quiet for human ears to catch, and felt her face heat up at the unexpected admission. The raven haired girl realised that Yang had forgotten about Blake's range of hearing, as she occasionally did, and so quickly fixed a neutral expression onto her features, so as to not alert her partner to her mistake.

After a quiet moment Blake took a deep breath and placed her pale hand over her partners on the table, in a move mirroring Weiss's previous gesture towards Ruby. Blake marvelled at the soothing warmth that her partner carried around with her no matter where she went before deciding to break the silence.

"Ruby will never stop wanting you there, Yang. She loves you and looks up to you so much even now." Blake's soft voice broke Yang out of her reverie, and the blonde smiled sadly at her partner.

"Thanks, Blake."

Blake's mind went to an unexpected place suddenly and the faunus woman was hit with such an intense feeling of self-doubt that she almost felt winded by it. Her eyes fell to the table and her ears flattened against her head dejectedly.

Yang noticed her partner's sudden shift in mood and confusion flickered across her features.

"I know that I'm not much of a consolation prize. I mean, I know you'd rather have Ruby with you." Blake choked out, her throat unusually tight.

"What?" The blonde across from Blake blurted, caught off guard by Blake's comment.

Blake pulled her hand away from her partners and began self-consciously playing with the metal fingers of her prosthesis.

"I wouldn't mind if you didn't want me to stay with you." the Faunus mumbled, eyes still not meeting Yang's bewildered gaze.

"Blake, I invited you, I don't understand where this is coming from." Yang admitted, her eyebrows drawn together, her eyes intently taking in her friends closed off posture, and her drawn back velvet ears.

Blake sighed, lifting her head to look at Yang.

"I know you invited me, but, didn't you just do it because you knew I had nowhere to go in mind, because you felt you had to?"

Realisation slammed into Yang like a tonne of bricks and Blake watched worriedly as her partner's entire demeanour changed.

"Are you suggesting I offered this out of pity?" Yang all but spat the last word, her face contorting as she uttered it.

"I know I can be a burden, Yang, so maybe, I don-"

Yang interrupted the girl with one raised hand.

"No. Listen." Yang ordered, and Blake fell silent.

Yang closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, Blake was alarmed to see the girl's eyes flickering undecidedly between lilac and red.

"You are a fool." Yang's words are a slap across the face to Blake.

The girl's eyes go again to the table as she hears her worst suspicions confirmed, that Yang did not care for her.

"Blake, look at me." Yang's authoritative tone gave no room for argument and Blake lifted her head, resigning herself to the painful moments to come.

"Did you just call yourself a burden? Did _you_ just tell _me _that you are a burden?"

Blake's surprise is evident as Yang continues in a way that the raven haired girl was not expecting.

Yang's fists clench on the table as Blake watches on with startled amber eyes.

"How long will it be until you realise how much I- how much we all love you?" Yang asks incredulously, before continuing so quickly that Blake fails to notice the blondes Freudian slip.

Blake does however notice the air around the two of them begin to warm up by a few degrees as Yang speaks.

"You are my closest friend and I would do anything for you. God, for someone so smart you can so freaking dumb." Yang lamented, her still flickering eyes staring into Blake's with such a burning intensity that the faunus feels her heartbeat begin to thud heavily in her chest in a strange mix of fear and awe for this angered goddess in front of her.

"You killing that Grimm in the forest all those years ago, giving me that little smirk, when you'd just seen me go completely apeshit? That was one of the best things that's ever happened in my life."

Yang's expression shifted again and Blake felt the air cool as the previously frustrated brawler slumped back sorrowfully.

"If we hadn't been made partners, I don't know if I'd have ever gotten up the courage to talk to you, I mean why would someone so calm and graceful and clever want anything to do with someone like me." Yang's sounded so despondent that Blake had to resist reaching out to comfort her friend, knowing that Yang wasn't finished.

"Don't ever call yourself a burden, don't ever think the things I do for you are out of pity. I nearly lost you Blake, I nearly killed you with my own damn punch."

Blake was frozen as she saw tears form at the corners of Yang's tortured gaze.

"I can't tell you how- how empty I felt when you were lying there, bleeding. Bleeding to death, because of _me_!"

Yang's eyes flash crimson as she shouted the last three words and all eyes in the cafe turned to her. A barista shot them a dirty look that only Blake caught, not that she cared about anyone but Yang in that moment.

Blake felt like she had whiplash from Yang's constant flipping from anger to sadness, however she realised after that last tirade that Yang was not angry at her, as she had previously thought, but rather that this was Yang's guilt rearing its ugly head and causing her anger to turn inwards.

"I thought you were going to die, Blake, and god knows the first thing I thought when I realised it was possible was that I needed to find a way to follow you as soon as I could." Yang confessed, choking back a quiet sob.

"No!" Blake blurts, unable to let such a thought be spoken unopposed.

Blake felt a salty tear roll down her cheek, and registered that she wasn't sure when she had started crying along with her friend.

"Never doubt how much you mean to me, to everyone. You've been my partner, my friend, for too long, and we have become too close for me to be able to stand the thought of being without you, it'd be like I'd lost myself." Yang looked drained from her confession as she continued to cry softly.

Blake tentatively reached out, placing her hand over Yang's clenched fist. After a tense moment the faunus felt the straining fingers under hers relax until she could slip her hand into her partners', squeezing it gently in comfort.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Yang began to apologise before Blake cut her short.

"Yang it's okay, _I'm _sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so... Well, you know." Blake wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, pulling Yang's hand forward slightly so she didn't have to let go. "I'm so glad for your offer, I can't wait to live with my best friend."

Yang gave her a watery smile, not quite convinced, but too tired to go through the emotional wringer anymore.

"Thanks Blake." She said softly.

Blake's face turned serious for a moment, knowing that she needed to say something important.

"I know it's not going to be particularly pleasant but we need to talk about what happened, Yang."

Blake saw Yang's distasteful expression but continued regardless "I'm not saying here and now obviously. I'm not saying this week or next week or even next month, but we need to talk about what happened to us both in that fight, we can't keep going on like this, not mentioning it at all until it boils over and shows up in the middle of a coffee shop on what is meant to be a day of celebration."

Yang sighed but nodded, acknowledging the truth in Blake's words, no matter how much she wished that her friend was wrong.

As Blake looked at Yang she saw that the girl looked somehow older than when they'd been sat with their teammates earlier, as if her feelings of guilt had physically aged her.

"Ruby and Weiss will have to do the same thing, I'm sure." Blake pointed out before looking down at her now cold second cup of coffee, knowing that she did not envy the pair.

Yang stood, making sure to try and subtly wipe her eyes before she looked down to where the girls' hands were still connected.

"Let's go see our new home." Yang's offered after a quiet moment, forcing a smile on her tired features. Blake nodded and followed Yang away from the booth and towards the door, Blake handing the barista a few lien as a tip and an apology when they walked past.

They walked out of the shop, still hand in hand, neither wanting to end the comforting contact.

They stood on the pavement in front of Yang's garish yellow and black motorcycle whilst the brawler took the keys for Bumblebee out of her pocket.

"Yang, I came in the car with Weiss and Ruby, how am I gonna get to the flat? I mean I've ridden on the back of the bike-"

"Bumblebee."

Blake rolled her eyes playfully at Yang's interruption. "I've ridden on the back of Bumblebee before but I haven't got a helmet and I won't let you ride without yours again."

Yang's face brightened, and a genuine smile blossomed across her features, causing Blake to breathe an internal sigh of relief as her friend appeared to return to her usual optimistic self.

"Don't worry Blakey, I've got you covered," The blonde said excitedly "I got you something."

Yang went up to bumblebee and opened one of the new side bags she'd bought a few weeks prior, before pulling out a black helmet with a purple stripe down its side and turning and passing it to her partner.

Blake turned the helmet over in her hands, looking inside to see that there was a little more space at the top than in a normal motorcycle helmet. This one was designed so her ears wouldn't get painfully squashed during a ride.

As Blake turned the helmet around to look at the back, she saw that in messy silver pen, Yang had written "Blake".

Blake was struck silent at the affectionate gift, simply looking up at Yang with a small smile.

Yang laughed softly at the dumbfounded faunus and hopped onto her bike, before patting the space behind her and pulling on her own yellow helmet, trapping her long mane of golden hair against her back.

Blake felt a surge of warmth for the blonde woman as she gracefully slung her leg over the motorcycle before feeling it roar to life beneath her.

"You better hold on tight, Blakey!" Yang called out over the grumble of the idling engine before they shot forward, with Blake's strong but slender arms wrapped firmly around Yang's toned midriff.

Blake couldn't help but think that there were worse ways to travel as she clung onto the warm, beautiful body in front of her, an uncharacteristically large grin on her face, not that she'd ever admit any of this to Yang.

* * *

It wasn't a far ride from the café to the flat and with how Yang drove it felt like no time at all to Blake before they were stood in front of the spacious, newly built block of flats where they would find their new home. Blake was admittedly a little worried about what the flat would entail, having briefly envisioned a tall, rundown building filled with families, where every square inch smelt of various bodily fluids that Blake couldn't bear thinking about. The dark haired girl shivered to herself in disgust when she remembered the time that her and a few comrades had stayed in an abandoned flat for a stake out when she was in the Fang.

Yang punched in the code so they could get into the ground floor and opened the sleek reinforced glass door, holding it so Blake could walk in, before following behind.

The women walked over to the lift that was situated across from the entrance. Yang pressed the button impatiently, stabbing it repeatedly with her finger until the doors opened, allowing her to all but leap in with Blake following at a more sedate pace after her. Yang bounced on the balls of her feet for the entirety of the short ride to the third floor, unable to contain her excitement. Blake kept her breathing even, not betraying her excitement or nervousness to her fidgety blonde companion.

The doors opened with a slight hiss and Yang sprinted down the corridor, past four other apartments before stopping in front of a dark wooden door, upon which sat a brass number 5. Blake couldn't help but chuckle as she walked towards Yang, who was jumping up and down frowning at the faunus, obviously unimpressed with her lack of haste.

After what seemed like an eternity to Yang, Blake stopped in front of her, outside their new home. Yang reached into her pocket for a moment, digging about until she found two identical keys, she pocketed one of them again before holding the other out to her partner.

"This one's yours. Would you care to do the honours?" Yang asked, grinning playfully, with a grand sweeping gesture to the door in front of them both.

Blake rolled her eyes good-naturedly at the blonde before taking a deep breath and turning the key in the lock and pushing the door gently open.

For a moment the dark haired girl stood completely awestruck, only a step inside the place, her key still in the door. Distantly she heard Yang chuckle as she retrieved Blake's key from the lock.

Most of Blake's attention however was on the spacious living area, decked out with a good size television, a couple of two seated leather sofas, a games console and an old coffee table around which it was all arranged. Immediately to her left was a kitchen diner, all open onto the living area so someone could cook whilst still watching TV or talking to someone who was sat on one of the sofas. Blake absently ran her fingers across the black marble countertop, mentally deciding how much this is going to absolutely ruin them both financially, whilst paradoxically also not really caring. She turned around to see Yang still leaning against the doorway, smirking happily at the faunus.

"All of this is ours? You want to share this with me? How did you find this? How did you afford the advance? how are we gonna afford the rent?" Blake inquired without pause, overwhelmed as she stood in their beautiful new flat.

"Yep, Yep, Dad helped, Saved up and you'd be amazed how much someone is willing to drop a price if you get a little help in from the heiress to the SDC." Yang answered with a large grin, ticking off each answer on her fingers.

Blake didn't reply, only able to smile at her partner.

Yang laughed before shutting the door and walking over to Blake, taking her hand and gently tugging her past the kitchen diner and on to where two doors lay in the wall that joined onto the living area.

"Come on, I wanna show you the bedrooms." Yang announced as she pushed open the first door, revealing a good sized room with a drum kit in the corner, a computer and a large double bed on which Yang's suitcases were sat.

"This is my room, feel free to come in at any time if I'm in here, and if you do not knock I will not be held responsible for the things you see." Yang joked with a wink.

Blake ignored the comment, completely fixated on the drum kit, a frown on her face. She knew Yang played, as the blonde had mentioned her hobby before, however she was not looking forward to the unbearable amounts of noise she was sure that Yang would make.

"Yang?"

"Yes?" Yang replied curiously.

"That is not staying." Blake asserted.

"What's not- oh!" Yang followed Blake's gaze to her beloved drums before sighing in mock dejection.

"I thought you'd say that, which is why I've ordered an electric kit, so I can play with headphones in." Yang admitted, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

Blake sighed in evident relief.

"Yeah, don't worry. This will only be here for a week or two." The brawler laughed as her friends expression fell again.

Blake groaned, but reasoned with herself that this was better than it not leaving at all.

Looking around again, Blake noticed that the walls had been painted a sunny yellow. The faunus wondered when that happened, and who had done it before thinking that Weiss probably hired someone to decorate before they arrived, although she thought that it was a little plain for Weiss's tastes.

After a moment Yang gestured for Blake to follow her out and round to the other bedroom.

Blake noticed that Yang seemed almost as nervous as the raven haired girl was excited to see the room.

"This is yours." The usually boisterous brawlers words were softer than normal, piquing the cat faunus's curiosity.

Blake reached forward, pushing down slowly on the door handle, before taking a breath and stepping through.

It was beautiful.

Blake's lips parted in amazement as she took in her new room.

It had a large double bed and a computer, much like Yang's, and was a similar size but that was where the similarities ended.

The walls started black near the floor before fading into deep swirling blues and purples. What amazed the faunus the most though was that all over the ceiling hundreds of stars had been painstakingly painted, with Remnant's shattered moon in the centre.

If that wasn't enough, strings of white fairy lights had been run around the ornate wooden headboard of Blake's bed. The dark haired woman felt like a small child on Christmas morning, and couldn't wait to see how the lights sparkled in the night.

"Oh fates!" Blake murmured, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in wonder.

Looking around, Blake saw the sliding glass door on the wall opposite where she had come in, and walked over to it. She looked out, seeing a small balcony, with an old chair and a small wooden table. The view was not spectacular, only the normal busy street, with a few fields in the distance, but that didn't stop it from feeling special to Blake.

This was _her_ view from _her_ home and that made it the most picturesque thing in the world.

Blake moved over to the large, coverless bed and started to fiddle with the fairy lights absently, still eyeing everything around her in wonder.

"I can't believe how beautiful the paint work is." she muses aloud.

Yang was still stood in the doorway, and she rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously for the second time since they had gotten there. She sent Blake an affectionate smile.

"Oh yeah, I'm really glad you like it, it took a few days to get done, and I wanted to make sure I got all the stars in the right place." Yang told her.

Blake hummed, not really listening as she was still looking around.

After a second her eyes snapped over to Yang and her eyebrows rose in confusion.

"Wait, what?"

"You know, I thought you'd appreciate it more if the stars were actually right, I know how you like your constellations and stuff." The woman in the doorway explained.

"No no, Yang, you did all this?" Blake asked, disbelief colouring her tone.

"Hey! Rubes had to get her love of art from someone and it sure as hell wasn't dad." Yang said in mock indignation, before Blake's glare caused her to blow out a puff of air, a blush hitting her cheeks.

"Yeah I painted it for you." Yang concedes with a smile.

The strong blonde was almost knocked over, stumbling slightly when Blake launched herself fast as anything straight into Yang.

"Thank you, Yang." Blake murmured, her face buried in the crook of Yang's neck affectionately, her arms wrapped around the taller girls ribs, squeezing gently.

Yang let out a slightly shocked laugh before wrapping her arms around Blake's slender shoulders carefully.

"Anytime, kitten." Yang said softly, placing a small gentle kiss on top of the shorter girls head, between Blake's ears.

Blake stiffened and put her hands on Yang's collarbones, trying to ignore the electricity at her fingertips as they brushed bare skin, to gently but firmly push herself back, until she could see Yang's eyes.

Blake fixed Yang with an unfathomable gaze.

"Only my mother has ever called me that." Blake confessed in a quiet whisper, like she was sharing a life changing secret.

Yang's eyes widened as she heard Blake's words, and she bit her lip apologetically. The blonde knew that Blake usually immediately shut down nicknames to do with her Faunus heritage, but when Yang had called her kitten then, it had slipped out accidentally and Blake had surprised her by her lack of aggressive reaction.

"I'm sorry Blake, I didn't mean-" Yang started to apologise anyway before Blake put one slender pale finger over Yang's lips, causing the blonde to start slightly.

"It's okay. I'm just not used to hearing it anymore, at least not in a caring way." Blake said with a quiet sigh before surprising Yang for a second time when she leaned back into her partner's embrace, her head resting over Yang's heart as they stood together in their new home.

Yang leaned her cheek on the top of Blake's head and chuckled lightly when Blake flicked her nose with one soft cat ear. Blake sighed contentedly in Yang's hold, listening to her partners chuckle rumble through her chest.

Yang didn't know how long they stood like that, wrapped up in one another before the world outside her partner and their house began to filter back into her thoughts.

Gently untangling herself from a contently smiling Blake, the brawler took her hand and lead her back into the living room to sit on one of the soft leather sofas.

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before a thought tripped off Yang's tongue.

"I wonder how Weiss and Ruby are doing."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry its a little later, and a tad shorter than usual. I have had a ridiculously hectic week, and I am not feeling well right now, which is why the chapter is a tad shorter than the last two. Thank you for favs &amp; Follows, and please review.**

**I hope you all had a good time on NYE. Happy New Year guys, enjoy the chapter. **

**again, thank you to niko (URL queerassholeunderthemisletoe on tumblr) for his beta reading and stuff.**

**my tumblr is will-you-bumblby-mine which you ca follow for bad humour and fic update news.**

* * *

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss's shrill exclamation stopped the girl in question in her tracks, and she turned her head to face her girlfriend with a face like a naughty puppy.

"If you even _think_ about clicking "buy", you will be spending your first night in this house on the sofa you are sat on." Weiss warned, her features tight with exasperation.

Ruby's eyes flew wide open before her face fell and she stuck out her lower lip.

"But Weiss!" The young leader whined at her girlfriend who stood in the doorframe to their new living room.

"But nothing. Not one single household, not even ours, needs a _2,000 lien_ cookie maker." Weiss explained with a sigh as she walked and stood infringing on the space in front of her mischievous partner, who was sat on one of the long white sofas the room held, a scroll in her hand, the screen displaying the monstrosity she wanted to purchase.

"But-"

"No." Weiss interrupted any more negotiations by lifting a hand. Ruby was trying her hardest to win her partner over non-verbally, with her patented kicked puppy look chipping away at Weiss's resolve.

Weiss knew she needed to point the young woman's attention elsewhere before she caved into her ridiculous request.

"You have barely glanced at the kitchen in your haste to get your Xbox in here," Weiss pointed out "And you know we could make cookies ourselves without you wasting any of my money."

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, her eyebrows pulling together adorably.

Weiss felt her heart ache with affection for her dolt before she shook it off and grabbed Ruby's hand, pulling her up off the sofa.

"Come on, idiot." she muttered as she pulled the woman through the door that joined the dining room onto their living room and on through to the kitchen.

They stood in the kitchen for a moment whilst Ruby looked around at the white countertops and minimalistic design of the large area. Set into the counter top at the back of the kitchen was an intimidatingly large black cooker.

"Uh Weiss, I can't cook. I've never used a cooker before." Ruby confessed.

Weiss's mouth fell open incredulously.

"What?! How have you survived?" Weiss demanded.

Ruby chuckled and reached up to rub the back of her neck sheepishly, a habit that Weiss did not doubt she had picked up from Yang.

"Well, Mum and Dad where gone a lot when Yang and me were too young to cook, so we just used to make microwaved stuff all the time." She explained.

Weiss shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose with a quiet sigh.

"It's amazing you're both as fit as you are." She muttered absently before hearing Ruby burst out laughing beside her. Weiss resigned herself to her fate and looked over at her girlfriend to find her doing muscle poses.

"Don't worry ma'am," Ruby said in a faux deep voice "I got permits for these guns."

Weiss tried exceedingly hard to keep a straight face, and succeeded up until Ruby began waggling her eyebrows madly.

Ruby punched the air in triumph as her girlfriend broke into a fit of giggles next to her.

"You complete dolt!" The princess coughed out after a minute, out of breath from laughing.

Ruby had a huge grin plastered to her face as she put her arm around her shorter girlfriend.

"You love me." She said happily.

Weiss sighed and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she leant her head against Ruby's shoulder.

"You're right, I do." She said softly, holding Ruby firmly against her side.

They stood in silence for a few heartbeats, enjoying each other's presences and thinking about their beautiful new home.

"Anyway," Weiss began, slightly reluctant to release her hold on the one she loved "I should really show you how the stove works so you don't starve if I have to go away for a few days."

Ruby huffed in mock indignation before they both approached the large black cooker.

"Right, press that dial down and turn it," Weiss ordered, pointing to the gas dial "then hold that button down so it clicks a few times." The heiress gestured to a small round button near the front of the cooker, before turning back to her student, who surprised her by looking extremely worried about this simple action. Ruby's teeth worried her lower lip before her face set into a steely mask of determination. She reached out and did as Weiss instructed, turning the dial and holding down the button for the flint.

The blue flame roared to life on top of the stove and Weiss watched in shock as Ruby threw herself as far back from it in the large kitchen as she could, silver and black eyes wide and trained fearfully on the flame. Realisation hit Weiss like a freight train as she quickly turned the gas off and rushed over to her girlfriend, who had begun to slide down the wall she was pressed against until she was sat on the floor with her knees up to her chest.

Weiss's heart broke as she began to comfort her girlfriend, who had begun to hyperventilate, and she felt an immense surge of anger towards herself for being so careless.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, of course Ruby would react like this, it's not like she was tortured by a fire wielding maniac or anything. And I call _her_ a dolt!_ Weiss thought as she gently but firmly took Ruby's face in her hands and tried to make eye contact with her. Ruby's stare was going right through Weiss as if she wasn't even there, and as Weiss saw the young leaders hand fly up to her false eye and her face contort in anguish, she knew that Ruby was deep in the middle of a flashback.

"Ruby, it's okay you're safe." Weiss's voice wobbled with sadness as she pulled the leader against her, holding her tightly.

"Breathe, love, it's okay it's over now." Weiss rubbed small circles on the tense muscles of Ruby's back until the red themed woman's breathing began to return to a more healthy pace.

"Weiss?" Ruby's voice was so timid, so fear stricken that it shook Weiss to the core, and the heiress tightened her hold on her lover in response.

"I'm here, darling, I'll never let anyone hurt you again, it's all going to be okay." Weiss comforted, kissing Ruby's temple lovingly.

Whereas the only sound in the kitchen had previously been Ruby's ragged breaths, now Weiss felt her girlfriends body shake as she let out a broken sob, that seemed to shatter the entire world around Weiss, leaving only Ruby in her arms, staining her white jumper with tears.

They sat there for what felt like a decade to the young heiress before Ruby's sobs began to subside and were replaced by the staccato breathing of troubled sleep.

Weiss looked down at the woman in her arms and pressed her pale lips to Ruby's salt stained cheeks before adjusting her position until she had one arm under Ruby's arms and one under her knees.

The heiress made a mental note to thank Yang for the years of strength training she had made Weiss endure as she lifted her girlfriend off the cold tiled kitchen floor and carried her through the house and, with a tad more difficulty, up the stairs to their shared bedroom.

Weiss laid her girlfriend down on top of the soft claret bed spread before folding her side of the duvet over so Ruby was cocooned in the warm silk.

Weiss sat next to her lover on the edge of the bed for a while, gently caressing the leader's cheekbone with the side of her thumb before glancing at her scroll beside the bed to check the time. 16:47 was what the glowing numbers told Weiss and she sighed in relief as she realised they still had a little over two hours before Yang and Blake arrived for dinner. She resolved to let her emotionally exhausted partner sleep for a while before the black and yellow themed women showed up. Weiss leant down and placed one last affectionate kiss against Ruby's slightly parted lips before standing up and resigning herself to the fact that she was going to be cooking the night's meal alone. Weiss exited the room quietly, pulling the door behind her until it was ajar, not wanting to risk the click of the door waking her sleeping girlfriend.

As Weiss makes her way downstairs and through the living room towards the kitchen, she picks Ruby's discarded scroll up off the sofa and goes to place it on the coffee table before pausing and opening up the page Ruby had most recently visited. The ludicrously expensive cookie maker sat there on the page, still no less ridiculous. Weiss sighed as she opened a new tab on the scroll and quickly ordered a new electric stove before caving entirely and buying the cookie maker.

She hadn't been making half-hearted threats when she had warned Ruby against buying the thing, but she thought that considering what she had just seen and all she knew that Ruby had lived through, she really couldn't deny anything that would bring the young leader happiness.

_Even if said happiness comes at the expense of 2000 lien and a monstrosity in our kitchen. _Weiss thought with a small resigned smile as she put the scroll down on the table and continued through to the kitchen.

* * *

Ruby was awoken abruptly a couple of hours later by a buzz coming from the bedside table next to her head. She groggily raised herself up into a sitting position, the covers Weiss had put over her slipping down as she stretched her arms above her head, letting out a satisfied grunt when she felt her shoulders pop. The young leader rubbed the sleep out of her single silver eye and swung her legs over the side of her bed before picking up the scroll that had awoken her to read the message displayed on the screen.

_Yang and Blake should be here soon, make yourself presentable please. I hope you had a good rest._

_Weiss x_

Ruby smiled to herself as she read Weiss's words before putting the scroll in her jacket pocket. She stood and looked herself over, grimacing at the sleep induced wrinkles in her clothes before resigning herself to them, deciding that she really couldn't be bothered to change, instead simply picking the lint off of her black trousers and walking over to the dressing table and picking up the hairbrush. The young leader pulled the brush through her unruly hair until she deemed it acceptably tamed. She heard the front door open downstairs and a rush of warmth ran through her at the thought of spending the evening with her team. With only a brief thought for the lecture Weiss would inevitable give her that evening, she activated her semblance, leaving a cloud of rose petals falling over the white bedroom carpet.

"Yang!" Ruby appeared out of nowhere, slamming into her older sister in an explosion of colour, cutting off whatever Weiss had been telling the two guests. The blonde laughed as she picked up her sister and swung her round in the luckily large hallway.

Blake smiled at the sisters antics before turning to turning and surprising Weiss by giving her an affectionately gentle and brief hug. Even after all this time, Blake was not very forthcoming when it came to physical shows of friendship, and Weiss felt honoured that even after all the differences they had had in the past, the faunus had not hesitated in greeting Weiss with love.

"How are you enjoying the new home?" Blake asked, curious, as she glanced around their luxurious surroundings, taking in the tall white ceilings and beautiful works of art dotted along the walls of the hallway.

"It's lovely thank you." Weiss replied happily before Ruby sprang back from Yang and took Weiss's hand with a blissful smile and an excited nod of agreement, which caused the Faunus across from them to chuckle lightly.

Yang gave Weiss a gentle hug before moving back and putting a hand on the heiress's shoulder and giving her a smile.

"It's good to see you're enjoying your new digs, princess." Yang said with a grin "Now how about some grub, I don't know about you lot but I'm absolutely starving."

Ruby smiled at Yang's proclamation and nodded in agreement before the two sisters turned expectantly towards Weiss, who raised one delicate eyebrow and smirked lightly. The woman turned on her heel and began to walk through into the dining room, gesturing for the other three women to follow her through.

Yang couldn't help but be glad for how much the icy woman had thawed towards them all over time. The young faunus knew that the heiress had worked hard on her personality and temper, especially with Ruby, which had actually resulted in Weiss being far less stressed out all the time, making her happier and less abrasive with her team.

Weiss and Ruby led the two other women into the luxuriously decorated dining room before making their excuses and heading into the kitchen together so that Weiss could finish off last minute prep and Ruby could organise the cutlery and drinks.

Yang whistled appreciatively as her and Blake stood taking in their surroundings.

The ceilings were higher than in a normal house, and every wall was painted white and decorated with beautiful paintings. Yang approached one of the paintings hung in its ornate frame on the wall across from we're they had entered the room, the blonde being careful not to knock anything and she made her way around the huge oak dining table that waited in the middle of the room for the four women. Blake trailed behind her partner quietly before standing beside her as Yang looked the work over, her expression contemplative.

"I didn't know Weiss was fond of Mistrali art." Blake offered as they looked at the colourful battle scene in front of them. Yang hummed thoughtfully.

"I don't think she is, every other piece in the room is Atlasian." Blake raised her eyebrows in surprise as Yang spoke. "It's the original, naturally Weiss would get no less." The blonde laughed good-naturedly before turning minutely to watch Blake study the work.

"I'll be honest, I was only relatively certain it was Mistrali from the style and I can't make out the signature, it's obscured by the frame." Blake confessed, with a shrug.

"I'm not surprised you don't know the artist," Yang replied truthfully "this is one of François Bleu's less well known pieces, which is what interests me the most."

Blake let out a small puff of air at the name, being hit yet again by how ridiculously wealthy her friend was. She knew that even a less well known work of such a revered artist would have an incredible amount of lien written on the price tag. Blake quickly dismissed that thought in the wake of Yang's last statement as she looked at her partner in curiosity as vivid lilac irises returned to studying the painting.

"Why is that interesting?" The Faunus asked inquisitively, before Yang turned to her, her passionate expression calming into one of patient explanation.

"In a room full of Atlasian paintings, there is one painted by someone from Mistral. This would make you think that Weiss maybe has a soft spot for Bleu's art, but I think it's more than that. She could afford almost any artwork she wanted, and if she wanted something of Bleu's, why not simply buy something more famous, something big like The Fire Swan?" Yang asked rhetorically, as Blake began to catch up to where Yang had already arrived.

"You believe it has sentimental value?" Blake asked, intrigued by Yang's thought process. Her amber eyes had locked with the lilacs of the beauty that stood beside her now and she had to remind herself to listen when Yang spoke again.

"Sure, I mean I think so. Why else would she have it in a room surrounded by bigger bolder Atlasian art. Not to mention the fact that it is hung in the most ornate frame, and put straight across from you on the wall when you walk in. It's in pride of place." Yang concluded, with a quick gesture towards the artwork. Blake didn't speak for a moment while she figured out that Yang was almost certainly right, and knew more about what she was talking about that the faunus did.

"You weren't joking about being good with art." Blake finally spoke, throwing a disarming smile at her friend. The raven haired woman was surprised when she saw the light dusting of pink spring up onto Yang's cheeks as she lifted her hand to the back of her neck, her usual sign of feeling self-conscious.

"Yeah, I guess it's surprising. Everyone only ever expects me to know only about fighting but Mum took me to art museums a lot before she... When I was younger." Yang covered the hesitation with a slightly forced smile. Even though the blonde would never stop hoping to find her birth mother, she had loved Summer just as much as Ruby had. The older woman had loved Yang like her own from the moment Taiyang had stepped into her life. Neither Yang nor Ruby spoke often of their mother, but it was clear to see they both loved her and missed her greatly even after all this time.

Blake reached out and took the warm hand of her fiery partner and gave it a consoling squeeze, causing Yang to dazzle her with a beautiful smile.

"Come on, let's sit down, we can ask the princess about her taste in art over dinner." Yang suggested and Blake nodded before the two sat down on one side of the beautiful dining table that dominated the room. Blake studied the table cloth for a moment; it was intricately detailed, with snowflakes embroidered on it, interspersed with rose petals. The centrepiece of the table held a small glass vase filled with perfectly kept white roses. The Faunus smiled at the implications of the decorations, quietly glad that Weiss and Ruby were still going so strong after so much time and hardship had passed.

The sound of the door to the kitchen opening pulled the quiet woman from her reverie as Ruby bustled in, placing cutlery and plates laden with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and vegetables on both sides of the table before Weiss walked in with a large dish covered in tin foil. Ruby disappeared briefly before returning with a bottle of obviously expensive champagne and four tall crystal glasses that Weiss had commissioned for the occasion. Weiss took the foil off of the dish to show four large salmon fillets, the smell of which made Blake close her eyes and breathe in the heavenly aroma of the fish. The Faunus could detect the slight hint of lemon that Weiss had used to give the dish some tang.

Whilst Blake was distracted by the salmon, Yang had taken to inspecting the beautiful crafted glass that Ruby had just filled with champagne for her. Yang's eyebrows raised in surprise when she noted her crest, the burning heart, carved into the stem of the glass. A quick glance over to Blake's glass revealed that hers held the deadly nightshade emblem that the Faunus favoured. Yang admired the fine craftsmanship and felt warmth bloom in her chest for the two younger women who were now sat across from her and Blake.

"Right then, Ruby, would you like to make the toast?" Weiss asked her girlfriend as she lifted her glass slightly. Ruby's look of confusion caused Blake and Yang to attempt to stifle giggles as she spoke her concern, her eyebrows drawn together to convey her emotions.

"But Weiss why do we need toast when... we have... salmon..." The young leader trailed off as she caught Weiss's look of pure incredulity.

This was too much for Yang as she let out a hearty burst of laughter at the expense of the couple across from her. Blake was more restrained, lifting a hand to her mouth to hide her chuckles. Weiss looked at the women in turn, face etched in disbelief, which only caused Yang to laugh harder before the heiress turned back to Ruby.

In a very un-Weiss-like show of improper etiquette, the heiress slumped with her elbows on the table.

"Blake, please." The icy woman sighed dejectedly as Blake removed her hand from her mouth and lifted her glass gently, the black metal fingers gripping the stem gingerly as her other hand found Yang's under the table, who promptly stopped laughing and wiped her teary eyes. Yang's thumb ran reassuringly over Blake's knuckles as the faunus took a deep breath. Yang knew that even after all this time that the woman at her side was still not entirely comfortable at having all eyes on her, even if it was just her team.

"Here's to all of us, to all we have lost and gained, to graduating and to being a family. If I have to spend forever on a team with you all, I will be sad that I wasn't given enough time." Blake said, her heartfelt words touching each of the women around her. Yang smiled proudly at her partner in the brief silence before lifting her glass into the middle of the table.

"To us. Nobody's been able to keep us down yet!" Yang exclaimed, causing everyone to smile as Weiss and Ruby touched glasses with the blonde before she turned again to Blake, who lifted her glass up to greet the blonde's. In that moment Blake felt more content than she had in a while. She had a good feeling about the coming evening, and she knew, as her golden eyes met the soft lilac of Yang's, that she could not be spending it in better company.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey guys, I'm sorry for taking a bit longer to update but I'm back at college again. I'll try to keep it to a chapter a week, but I may be a few days earlier or later depending on the week and if I get into a muddle with my writing. I can't believe I'm at 20 favourites and 36 follows. Thank you so much you guys for your support and as usual I hope you enjoy this chapter of Convalescence.**

* * *

All it took was a twitch of metal fingers to shatter both the moment of joy and the gorgeous crystal Blake held.

Gasps sounded around the table as all eyes flew to the shocked faunus. All was silent bar the sound of shards quietly tinkling on the plate in front of Blake, and the soft tap of them hitting the carpet beneath her heels.

The faunus barely felt the sharp sting as a few of the glass pieces cut into the soft alabaster skin of her exposed left arm. Blake was still as a statue for a moment, right hand still holding the bottom of the broken crystal stem. Wide amber eyes found where her crest had been engraved, but saw that only half of it remained, the break having sheared right through the symbol.

It took the startled woman a moment before she realised that Yang had reached up with tentative fingers to remove the remains of the glass from her hand. Blake turned her eyes towards her unusually quiet partner and saw a soft pleading in her lilac eyes for Blake to loosen her grip. The blonde's gentle expression pulled Blake back into the moment and she let Yang take the glass, which the fiery woman placed lightly on the table.

"Blake, I-"

"Weiss," Blake cut off the start of the blonde's sentence as she abruptly stood "I am so sorry about the glass, it was beautiful." Blake's voice was even as she apologised and Weiss nodded at her friend slightly.

"It's okay, it was nothing." The heiress reassured gently, seeing how distressed her friend had become. There was a tense silence, thick with unspoken explanations. Blake moved out from behind her chair and strode away into the kitchen, the door shutting behind her with a dull thud.

Yang was still for a moment as her eyes followed her fleeing partner. The blonde knew that her friend would feel terrible; the being of grace that she was, for such a clumsy act. Yang knew the cause of Blake's trouble but as she glanced at the other two women across from her and saw the confused and concerned expressions they bore, she realised that they were in the dark.

Yang scrambled to a stand, bumping the table with her hip as she rounded her chair.

"Excuse us." Was all the fiery woman gave as she walked quickly into the kitchen, not looking back at her team mates.

Blake's ears perked up as she heard the soft click of a door shutting. She remained with her eyes glued to the floor in shame as she heard the footsteps of her partner cross the kitchen.

Strong, calloused hands cupped the faunus's cheeks as Yang gently persuaded her to meet her eyes. Blake acquiesced after a moment, unshed tears pooling in her eyes, causing Yang's chest to ache.

"Oh, kitten." Yang soft voice was all Blake needed for the tears to start rolling down her pale cheeks. The Faunus concentrated on the soft violet eyes of the taller woman, getting lost in the gorgeous hues of the affectionately worried gaze. Yang's eyebrows were pulled together, forming a crinkle between them as she used the sides of her thumbs to gently wipe at the falling tears on Blake's cheeks.

Yang then surprised the shorter woman by leaning forward slowly and gently pressing her soft lips to Blake's forehead. The faunus closed her eyes at the warmth that spread through her from the kiss. A pang of annoyance broke through her sadness as Yang leaned away.

"Blake! Your arm!" Yang's exclamation broke the soft silence, causing Blake's eyes to open and snap down to where Yang was now gingerly holding the shorter woman's arm up for a better look at it.

Blood was oozing from three cuts on Blake's pale forearm, and she could see a few small slithers of glass had embedded themselves in her skin.

"Oh." The faunus couldn't even find it within herself to be annoyed at her own lack of eloquence as she realised that her aura hadn't activated to deflect the shards.

_Yet another failure._

Yang moved away from Blake as she began rifling through the cupboards, searching for something. There was an exclamation of success as Yang found her prize under the sink and Blake watched as she pulled out a small green box with a white cross emblazoned on the lid. Blake raised one eyebrow questioningly as Yang walked back to her and set the first aid kit on the counter beside where she was leant.

"I made sure Weiss had one for the house, just in case." Yang explained as she popped open the lid, revealing reels of sterile white bandages and antiseptic wipes, along with a few other things that the faunus couldn't see as Yang poked around in the box, looking for what she needed and placing the things one by one in front of her. Blake watches as she laid antiseptic wipes and tweezers out before shutting the box and quickly grabbing a small plate from a cupboard above her head and placing that down to.

_She must have forgotten the bandages._

Yang turned to face Blake expectantly. The dark haired woman sighed as she placed her still slowly bleeding arm in front of her, letting the fiery woman see the damage again.

Yang began by pulling a lighter out of her pocket, which surprised Blake slightly, as she was unaware that the blonde carried one. The brawler sterilised the tweezers carefully over the flame before pocketing the lighter again and taking Blake's arm gently in her left hand, turning it slightly into the light so she could better see the small shards that shone in Blake's marred skin.

Yang worked quickly and methodically, impressing her friend with her experienced touch. Blake watched as Yang extracted each slither of glass, hearing them fall onto the white porcelain plate beside her with a gentle clink.

When the delicate job was done, the blonde placed the small metal tweezers down on the counter and picked up a small foil square. Yang tore off the corner and pulled the small wipe out before gently touching it to the first of the three small wounds.

A quiet hiss escaped Blake at the sting of alcohol on her cuts but she was distracted from the pain when Yang spoke.

"I haven't been able to activate my semblance since the fight."

The softly spoken confession surprised Blake and she tried to catch Yang's eye, before realising the girl was too engrossed in her work.

Blake couldn't say that she had noticed Yang's missing semblance, as they had not had cause to fight so aggressively since the fateful day Blake had lost her arm and Ruby her eye. The dark haired woman was filled with concern for her friend as she thought about how much Yang had always loved the thrill of the fight. Knowing that she couldn't go all out at a moment's notice, Blake knew that it would taint the glory of battle that Yang so clearly adored.

"Why are you telling me this now, Yang?" Blake asked curiously.

Yang glanced up from where she had finished cleaning Blake's wounds, and smiled sadly at her partner.

"I know you feel useless and I need you to know that you're not alone in that feeling. I'm terrified that if someone attacked you, all of you that I would not be able to protect you like I should."

Blake felt guilt course through her, not having considered this perspective.

_I'd been sure it was just the fight she had been missing but I should have realised she would be berating herself for this. She's always been the protective type._

"So," Yang continued, still gently cradling Blake's arm "I was thinking that maybe we could help each other out?" The uncertainty in Yang's voice turned her statement into a question and Blake raised one eyebrow inquisitively.

"What do you propose?" She queried quietly.

"Well, I was thinking that there is a gym near our flat, and I was thinking we could start sparring again. It'd get you used to adjusting your aura again and maybe I could work on my semblance." Yang explained.

"That could help." Blake replied with a small hopeful smile. Yang's expression turned serious very quickly, causing the smile to leave the faunus's face. An unspoken question burned in the lilac eyes of her blonde partner and she could see the taller woman wrestling with herself about asking it.

"What is it, Yang?" Blake coaxed, voice soft with affection, her eyes catching Yang's gaze. The blonde next to her took a deep breathe, closing her eyes for a minute before opening them.

"I also told you now because I need your permission to try something, and I needed you to know that before I did."

Blake's features must have betrayed her confusion as Yang's expression calmed and she cracked a small cocky smirk.

"Don't worry kitty cat, I wouldn't ask if I thought it would go wrong."

Blake detected a slight hint of worry in Yang's confident tone but simply smiled back at her friend.

"I trust you." Blake said simply, repeating her words from the party on the roof two nights ago.

_Only two nights ago? It feels so different._

Yang's small smile turned blinding and so wide that Blake was concerned she would split her face. The faunus felt her heart begin to beat a little faster as she looked at her beautiful, smiling partner. Blake had the sudden urge to shield her eyes, as if Yang's glory was becoming unbearable.

_It's like staring up at the sun._

The thought caused a light blush to tint Blake's features and she tilted her face down a little, causing her bangs to fall in front of her face.

"Do whatever it is you want to do, Yang." She said softly, consenting to Yang's plan.

Yang smiled in relief before lifting Blake's injured arm slightly higher up and placing her other hand over the wounds on her partners porcelain forearm. The blonde closed her eyes in concentration and let out a long breath. Blake watched in curiosity and then surprise as Yang's hand began to glow gently like slowly burning embers. The faunus felt the rising warmth of Yang's soft skin begin to penetrate deep into her bones through her cuts and couldn't help the feeling of contentment that began to spread from the touch. All too soon though, Yang's hand was gone and where the fresh lacerations had been, there were now only three small pink faded lines. The blonde opened her eyes as she released her partners arm from her grip and let out a small sigh of relief before breaking into a broad, joyous grin.

Blake studied the small marks on her skin with wide eyes before looking up at her smiling partner.

"I wasn't aware you knew any healing techniques." Blake said, surprise colouring her tone.

Yang shrugged and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well I guess I never had to use them in our team, Weiss always had it under control if we had a problem in the field." Yang explained, with Blake nodding as she listened.

"Mum taught me how to heal small cuts and stuff when Ruby was young, so I could look after her when mum and dad were away." Yang's gaze drifted, and suddenly Blake thought she looked like she was looking somewhere far beyond the beautiful house they stood in.

"I remember when I was young, when I'd only just began trying to control my aura, I caused a fire in our old house. Dad was really mad, he wouldn't stop shouting at me. He apologised for this later, but he said to me that I would never be good for creating anything, that I'd only be able to break things. So I ran out into our garden and cried, mad that I'd been given such a destructive aura." Blake watched as one small tear escaped her partner's sad lilac eyes.

"Mum found me about twenty minutes later and told me that it would be okay. She said that even though fire can be destructive, we would be at a loss without it. She told me that fire can burn down a house, or can be the much needed warmth and light in a dark place." Yang's gaze snapped back to Blake, and the Faunus couldn't help but notice her partners eyes flicker to her metal arm quickly before she met her gaze.

"I don't know if she was right anymore, but I hope so."

Blake thought for a moment before stepping into Yang, clutching at small handfuls of the blonds shirt as she rested the side of her head against the sound of Yang's strong heartbeat. Yang thawed out after a moment before wrapping her arms around the smaller woman.

"Thank you for healing my arm." The young faunus mumbled into fabric. Blake inhaled deeply, taking in her partners comforting scent of lavender and wood smoke.

Yang rubbed small circles with her hand between Blake's shoulder blades, and her quiet chuckle reverberate through her chest.

"Anytime."

Yang sighed after a moment before pulling away from her beautiful friend.

"Come on, Weiss and Ruby are waiting and I know Weiss made that salmon for you so we should really go show her how lovely it is." Yang explained at Blake's small pout of dissatisfaction.

Blake nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face as she thought about the luscious slab of fish that sat waiting for her.

Yang quickly tidies away the first aid kit before she turns to the door that would take them back into the dining room. She paused and looked back at Blake, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

_Ready?_

Blake nodded and smiled gently as Yang pushed the door open and strode purposefully through, Blake following silently after.

* * *

The rest of the meal managed to reclaim the feelings of happiness and relief previously felt by the four women. Weiss and Ruby had not commented on the incident when Yang and Blake had sat back down to eat, and the leader had simply asked if the two of them were okay, to which they replied in the positive. The salmon had, of course, been delicious and Blake praised Weiss for adept cooking skills, to which Weiss had blushed only slightly and wave the comment off with an uncharacteristically quiet "Thank you" which caused Ruby to giggle before the heiress playfully elbowed her girlfriend in the ribs, making her be quiet.

After they had finished, Ruby had excitedly told Yang about their massive television and new Xbox, and without further discussion, the red and gold women had ran off in the direction of the living room.

Weiss sighed as she looked at all the dirty plates and glasses littering her dinner table.

"I can help you wash up if you want some help, Weiss." Blake offered, but the heiress simply smiled and shook her head.

"Ruby and I will tidy later, don't worry about it." Weiss reassured her friend. "However, I was wondering, since our respective idiots have disappeared, if you would like to go sit in the garden with me? The weather is quite agreeable tonight." The blue eyed woman asked hopefully. Blake's eyebrows lifted in pleasant surprise before she nodded and the two women left the table.

The two women now sat in companionable silence in the warm evening air, looking out over the houses large luscious garden. Blake inhaled the heavenly scent of flowers in bloom, and could pick out large bushes of roses of all different types and colours dotted around the grass.

"Do you like the flat?" Weiss asked, breaking the silence, but leaving the peace intact.

Blake glanced over the white haired woman to her right. They were sat on a soft blue cushioned swing seat on the patio that extended from the house, rocking gently.

"It's lovely." Blake answered, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"And Yang's paintwork?" Weiss queried, surprising her faunus teammate. The heiress laughed lightly before explaining. "She asked me for help picking colours."

Blake surprise dissipated as she heard the information.

_She put a lot of thought into it._

The idea caused a warm fluttering in Blake's chest, which she had started to associate with being around her blonde friend.

"How are you and Ruby settling in?" Blake asked, distracting herself from the unexplained heat.

"The house is wonderful of course, everything we both wanted." Weiss's expression had turned slightly melancholy, not fitting her words at all.

"But?" Blake prompted, giving her friend a chance to air her troubles, which Weiss gladly took.

"But I'm worried about Ruby. Before you both arrived she had some kind of post traumatic episode from simply lighting our cooker." Weiss slumped forward and put her head in her hands. Blake reached out and placed a comforting hand on her friends shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

"That tiny flame scared her so much she couldn't breathe. I looked after her while she had a flashback of something I probably can't even imagine, before she fell asleep having been completely drained by the whole ordeal."

Blake listened to Weiss talk, quietly worrying about her leader's state.

"She needs time. It's going to take her a while to recover from everything that happened to her. It's going to take everyone time to get over it all." Blake spoke gently, trying to reassure her white haired companion.

Blake's attention was drawn to the marred skin on Weiss's wrist that led up under her sleeve. Burns from her own battle with Cinder.

"You have suffered too though Weiss and I know you love Ruby, but you need to look after yourself as well, give yourself what you need to heal." Blake advised, causing Weiss to lift her head from her hands and face her amber eyed partner.

"What about you, Blake?" Weiss asked, her voice quietly accusing. Blake looked at Weiss with confusion, eyebrows drawn together.

"What about me?" She queried.

"When will you give yourself time to heal? You went straight from a hospital bed back to classes, as early as you could. You even went out at night to train instead of sleep, don't think I didn't notice." Weiss was sat up straight, her blue eyes filled with hard concern. Blake opened her mouth to retort, but found the words dying on her tongue as she turned away from her friend, looking out to the dark sky above them.

"I'm fine." She stated half-heartedly. Weiss stood abruptly, pushing the swing seat back a little before she stepped away and it rocked forward gently. She started to walk back towards the house but paused and looked over her shoulder at her quiet friend.

"Just because you care about her doesn't mean you don't have to care about yourself." The heiress stated clearly before making her way inside, pushing the door closed behind her as she entered the warm house.

Blake sat in silence for a while, losing track of time as she mulled over Weiss's parting words. The girl sighed as she looked at her hands, one black and tough and one white and soft under the light of the newly risen moon.

The dark haired girl dropped her hands to her lap as she looked up at the stars that were appearing in the sky one by one and resolved to try and think of something good.

As Blake compared the constellations in the heavens to the memory of her bedroom, her thoughts were drawn, as usual, to a woman who burned brighter than all the stars combined.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Long time no see, guys and gals and other. I'm very sorry about the lack of updates, half finished ideas have been sat on my Ipad for months collecting dust but things got hard at home and I'm on the home stretch for my course at the moment so its noses to the grindstone over here.**

**I will not promise a more regular update schedule but I can promise I'm still not abandoning this story. This update is not long by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel proud of it simply because I managed to write _anything_ at all with how things have been in life.**

**This chapter focuses more on whiterose simply because that is what the story asked me to write. The bees will always return though.**

**Please leave reviews guys, they really make me smile and reading them gets me back to writing when I'm struggling. **

**(writing this chapter felt like coming home)**

* * *

The sounds of fingers smashing buttons with almost no semblance of strategy filled the living room as the Rose-Xiao-Long sisters participated in an epic showdown of Mortal Kombat. Yang's jacket had been haphazardly discarded over the back of the pristine white sofa whilst she and Ruby sat on the floor cross legged, intense concentration shown in their stuck out tongues and crinkled brows.

Ruby's character was losing as Yang's jabbed it repeatedly in the body, causing the health bar on the leader's side to rapidly fall.

Ruby suddenly threw her hands up in the air in despair, dropping her controller as Yang's character dealt the killing blow.

"Boom! Yeah! FATALITY." Yang mimicked the announcer as the victory screen showed and her younger sister let out a groan in defeat.

Yang laughed victoriously, punching the air before leaning over and not so gently punching Ruby in the arm.

"Come on sis, you almost had me that time!" Yang encouraged before Ruby turned to face her, a look of exasperation on her soft features.

"Ten years playing fighting games and I still can't beat you." the leader said, smiling a moment later to let Yang know there were no hard feelings.

Ruby watched as the blondes large smile faded and was replaced by a more thoughtful and distant look.

"What's up?" Ruby asked after a few moments, pulling Yang back. Yang's eyes snapped to her younger sister's mismatched gaze and she sighed gently, shoulders slumping.

"Well I've been meaning to ask you about something and I guess now is as good a time as any." The blonde explained, fingers playing with the end of her locks thoughtfully.

"Ask away." The younger woman invited, leaning subconsciously a little closer to her older sister in her curiosity.

"Ruby, what do you know about Aura infusion?" Yang asked quietly, surprising Ruby.

"Well I know we do it with our weapons to create the sensation of an extension of our own body-" She began before Yang stopped her with a raised hand, palm towards Ruby.

"No, not like that. I mean, theoretically, is it possible to infuse your aura into something so it can be used for someone else?"

Ruby's surprise was evident, but she recovered quickly, gazing intently at her uncharacteristically serious older sister.

Yang was again struck by how much older her sister seemed, how much more mature she was from the cookie devouring, hyperactive child who had arrived at beacon with her four years ago. Ruby appeared to be able to gaze right into Yang, her mismatched eyes not straying, piercing through her.

Yang did not break her stare and after a tense few moments Ruby sighed deeply, her eyes wandering before leaning back with a light thud, her shoulder blades bumping against the sofa.

"There are very few records of that being done, and even fewer of them are of it being done successfully. Combining your aura for use in something for someone else would put a lot of stress upon you, especially when there's a distance involved between you and said object. I suppose you'd need to combine your aura with the aura of whoever would have the thing, to stop them from rejecting it like a failed organ transplant."

Ruby explained whilst Yang listened intently before leaning back against the sofa, mirroring the younger women, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Why do you ask?" Ruby queried after a few beats of quiet thought, looking to Yang to confirm her suspicions about her intentions.

Yang however had other ideas, shaking her head and flashing a small smile, concluding that she needed to pursue a few more avenues of information before she spoke to her sister again about this.

Ruby studied her sisters face, her eyebrows furrowing for a moment before smoothing out again as a large sigh escaped her lips.

"Okay Yang. Whatever you're doing, just promise you'll be careful."

Yang nodded her head quickly before Ruby continued.

"_and_ if you ever want help with anything, you know where I am. Weiss too, if you need, you and I both know she's the cleverest one of us along with Blake."

Yang laughed at that, a short bark of agreement, shifting the mood lightly.

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't run in our family to test very well." She said with a bright smile.

Ruby giggled, the taught seriousness of earlier fleeing her features as she remembered the many times Yang had passed by the skin of her teeth during Grimm studies.

_If I hadn't had Weiss pushing me to be a great leader and I hadn't stayed up revising all those nights, I probably would have ended up with similar marks._ The woman mused briefly before she saw Yang pick up her Xbox controller.

"One more?" Ruby asked with a smirk.

"Hell yeah, you are _so_ going down again Rubes!" Yang exclaimed,

As Yang's player began to just absolutely destroy Ruby's yet again, the red themed woman couldn't help but think about her sisters questions.

_I know what you're thinking, sis._ Ruby glanced over at her older sister, who was violently mashing combos on the Xbox controller, a manic smile on her face.

_I know how much she means to you, but please be careful._

**Later**

"Thank you both for such a lovely meal." Blake said politely as she and Yang pulled on their jackets in preparation of their departure from the house.

"You're very welcome, of course." Weiss said with a small but warm smile, "We will come to you next week, yes?"

Yang smiled brightly and hooked her arm around Blake's shoulders jovially, causing the faunus to blush slightly.

"Of course, princess, I'll try and make sure Blake doesn't just give you all tuna sandwiches." Yang joked playfully, causing Blake to flush even redder and slap Yang's arm in indignation.

From beside Weiss, Ruby let out a loud laugh as the heiress hid a chuckle behind one hand. Ruby held the other, her thumb running affectionately across her lover's knuckles.

Yang stepped forward and pulled her younger sister into her signature crushing hug, lifting the still slightly shorter girl off her feet.

"Have a good night sis." Yang said affectionately and she held Ruby, holding on a little too long.

"Yang! Can't. Breathe." The young leader managed to squeak out.

Yang laughed after a moment and let go of Ruby, the younger huntress taking a deep breath, seeing if this was the time Yang had finally managed to crack one of her ribs.

_I'm surprised she hasn't after a lifetime of those hugs._ Ruby thought this with no real anger or indignation, only affection showing for her older sister.

_I'm glad things didn't change between us._

Yang took a step to the right so she was right in front of Weiss. The brawler began looking her up and down in a way that made the usually unshakeable heiress feel nervous before Yang broke into a large, sunny smile and placed a hand on the ice princess's shoulder, squeezing it affectionately.

"That goes for you too, Weiss." The blonde told her, internally proud she could still affect the ice queen.

"T-thank you, Yang." Weiss stuttered, quietly sighing in relief when Yang turned and headed back towards the door.

"Okay Blakey, time to hit the road." Yang exclaimed as she moved past her partner with a smile before she threw the door open.

"See you guys!" Yang called out as she walked down the small drive and over to her bike that was parked against the curb and pulled on her helmet, carefully clipping up the chin strap, making sure not to catch her hair in it.

Blake walked to the doorway before turning back to her teammates.

"Goodbye Weiss, Ruby." She said, bowing her head slightly at them both in turn before sending a small but loving smile at the couple and following after her partner. Blake hopped onto the back of the now growling Bumblebee and put on her helmet before holding onto her warm partner.

Ruby and Weiss watched from the doorway as the bike speed off down the road and into the distance, shutting the door once they were out of sight.

Ruby leant heavily against the door that her teammates had just exited through, a small huff escaping her lips. After a beat of quiet, Weiss stepped gracefully towards her younger lover, wrapping her arms around her in a tender embrace, her face turned into the taller woman's neck affectionately.

Ruby chuckled as she held Weiss against her, the reverberation in her chest making her smile softly.

They stayed like that for a moment longer before Ruby felt the imperceptible shift in Weiss's body that led to her lips meeting the leader's neck.

Ruby stiffened briefly before thawing a little and pushing Weiss away just enough so that she could look into the pale blue eyes that stared back lovingly.

One lightly calloused hand came up between them and Ruby hesitantly brushed her fingertips over Weiss's cheekbone, with the shorter woman closing her eyes and leaning almost imperceptibly into the touch.

Ruby's touch traced lightly down to Weiss's neck as she willed it not to tremble.

Weiss's eyes opened at Ruby's hesitation and showed a familiar emotion bubbling just underneath the surface. The sight made Ruby's breath catch and she moved her hand to tangle her fingers into the hair at the nape of her partner's neck, causing a gasp from Weiss before it was silenced by the dark haired girl's lips crashing against hers.

The kiss was passionate, filled with unfulfilled desires the two shared.

Each woman was trying to say something different through the moment, the kiss an attempt at the dialogue that neither was truly ready to speak aloud.

The frenzied touch of Weiss, her hands cupping her lovers face and cradling the back of her head was a desperate attempt at reassurance. The answering fervour of Ruby's hands, one holding Weiss close at the base of her spine and the other still locked in her snow white mane, was a strangled cry of torn anguish, a bittersweet mix of uncertainty and the need to express love.

It was not the first time they had shared this kiss, in fact it had almost become routine. Weiss, however, hoped that the rest of the script they had followed since the accident would be abandoned tonight.

As their mouths moved together one of Weiss' hands strayed from Ruby's face and travelled down her body until it rested at her hip gently.

Ruby's white button up had come untucked a little during their embrace and Weiss took the opportunity to slip her deft fingers under the material to trace patterns on her lover's hips with her fingertips.

Weiss's forefinger brushed over puckered flesh and Ruby immediately froze before pulling her face away from her girlfriends, a pained expression crossing her angular features, causing a feeling of guilt to settle in Weiss' stomach like a stone.

"Ruby, I-" The white haired woman started, her eyebrows pulling together. She made what felt like a monument outs effort to not let herself tear up.

A finger was pressed gently to her lips as Ruby looked away dejectedly, down to the floor beneath them.

"Let's get to bed, I'm exhausted." The red themed woman said dully before gently unwinding herself from her girlfriend and moving past her, further into the house moving towards the bedroom they shared.

No matter how many times they read through this mental script together, it never lost its sting as Weiss was left staring at the space Ruby had been moments before.

The woman kept a straight face as she wandered through the house, years of being a Schnee being all that stood between her and the release of her emotional anguish.

As Weiss entered the bathroom that sat a few doors away from the room where she knew Ruby was lying in, she began to feel herself get swept under in the tide of emotion she was holding back.

_Hold it together, Weiss._

The pale beauty removed her clothes, sparing a glance in the mirror at the single large burn that ran up the side of her torso and shoulder, stopping just below her collar before stepping into the shower and turning it on.

Weiss stepped under the cool water, closing the sliding glass door behind her before standing under the shower head, feeling the rivulets of liquid running down her face.

In one sharp exhalation of breath, she was on the floor of the shower. Weiss lifted her hands to her mouth to stop any sounds that might escape, knowing that the cascading of water would only cover so much, no matter how much she wanted to scream.

The naked woman curled in on herself as the liquid continued to rain down on her.

The streams of tears that fell from her eyes mingled with the fresh water before disappearing down the plug hole. The cold of the water could not soothe the burning trail Ruby's fingertips had left across her cheek, nor the helpless ache that had made its home in her chest.

_Come back to me, Ruby._

The slender woman lay there for what seemed like an eternity before the energy expended in her outburst exhausted her, pulling her into unconsciousness as the water pouring on her slowly became colder and colder.

She slept the sleep of the emotionally drained, dreaming of weightlessness, only awaking briefly to darkness as she felt soft material dry her skin and hair gently before she was enveloped in comforting warmth. The semi-conscious woman would recognise only a brief flit of silver above her face before darkness claimed her again.


End file.
